Overview

• Passenger volumes grew just 2.8 percent in the first half of 2025 but remain 15.8 percent below 2019 levels, signaling a stalled rebound.
• Domestic flight capacity has recovered to only 49 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with winter schedules penciled in at about 90 percent compared with 116 percent across Europe.
• Airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet have relocated nearly one-third of Germany’s 190 domestic jets since 2019 in search of lower cost bases.
• The Bundesverband der Deutschen Luftverkehrswirtschaft estimates each withdrawn medium-haul jet costs around 170 jobs and €70 million in annual GDP, amounting to over €4 billion in lost value.
• The federal budget draft for 2026 omits planned cuts to the aviation tax, extending the sector’s cost disadvantage against European peers.