Major airline cuts 800,000 seats as it scraps 24 flight routes

There's an alarming trend of airlines going bust, and in 2025 alone, Iceland's Play has gone under, the European Union banned all airlines from Suriname and Tanzania over safety concerns, and Canada's Sunwing Airlines merged with its parent company, WestJet.

The likes of WOW air and Thomas Cook have faced financial troubles, and it seems that while we're more than happy to jet off on holiday, there's simply too much competition in the aviation industry.

More and more of us are looking for budget travel, but when booking a seat on a plane, we can still afford to be a little picky. American Airlines is known as the 'biggest' in the world due to the number of passengers it carries, while United Airlines is the biggest in terms of its fleet.

Over in the United Kingdom, British Airways has the biggest fleet but is dwarfed by Ryanair for passenger numbers. That could all change, with Ryanair confirming it's just axed 24 routes and lost 800,000 seats in the process. Bear in mind, this is the same airline that vowed to incentivize staff for finding passengers trying to flaunt baggage rules.

The budget airline has called out 'exorbitant' air travel taxes, explaining why it's scrapped 24 routes to and from Germany. Nine German airports will be affected, including Berlin, Hamburg, and Memmingen, with Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig remaining closed.

Ryanair has blamed the German government for 'damaging' its competitiveness in the European market, as CMO Dara Brady said: "Germany’s air travel market is broken and needs an urgent fix."

Brady went on to complain: "Due to its excessive access costs, Germany has only recovered 88 per cent of its pre-COVID traffic, which is by far the worst recovery of any major European market.

"Until the excessive (and rising) aviation tax, ATC charges, Security Fees and airport costs are addressed by the Government, German air traffic will simply continue to decline whilst other more competitive European countries (with no aviation taxes) benefit from turbocharged Ryanair traffic growth – at Germany’s expense."

The airline says that if Berlin removed or cut the tax, passenger traffic could double to in excess of 34 million passengers a year.

There's no sign of this happening, and with Ryanair holding steady, it says it has no option but to reduce capacity and send its fleet of planes to countries with 'better' conditions.

This is the latest fumble for Ryanair, which recently confirmed it was slashing its summer 2026 schedule by 10% while completely annexing northern Spain's Asturias Airport.

Aeno Monopoly is accused of raising 'uncompetitive' airport fees at regional airports in Spain, with Ryanair maintaining it 'harms growth'.

There's been a larger massacre of Spanish routes, as Ryanair ditches 41% of routes to regional areas, including Zaragoza, Santander, Asturias, and Vitoria, this winter.

Then again, with Ryanair reporting a €1.92 billion ($2.23 billion) profit in 2024 and landing a 34% increase from 2023, while recording its best-ever annual profit, many don't feel too bad for those at the top.