The share of low-cost flights in the overall German market stands at around 26 percent, compared to an average of 36 percent across Europe, according to research published Thursday by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The number of weekly low-cost flights in the summer of 2025 remains 34 percent below pre-pandemic levels from 2019. "The supply in Germany has noticeably shrunk compared to the pre-pandemic period," said DLR executive board member Markus Fischer.
The market leader in Germany is Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings, with nearly 2,200 departures per week (measured in July as an example), followed by Ryanair with 1,100 and Wizz Air with 390 departures. However, Eurowings itself is still operating 30 percent below its summer 2019 level. The decline is particularly pronounced in domestic German air traffic, where the share of low-cost carriers has dropped to about eight percent, after previously peaking at up to 40 percent. The DLR cites the withdrawal of individual providers, lingering effects of the pandemic, and structural market changes as reasons for this trend. Many airlines attribute the reduction in flight offerings to high location costs in Germany. The federal government, however, intends to take countermeasures.
The study's authors also note a shift in offerings away from major hubs. While the low-cost share in Frankfurt and Munich is below five percent, it exceeds 40 percent at airports such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, or Cologne. At smaller locations like Memmingen or Hahn, the share is even above 90 percent.
(Report by Klaus Lauer, edited by Philipp Krach. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)
