Berlin airport scraps fees for airlines to take off and land after 10pm

Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) will abolish fees it charges for takeoffs and landings after 10pm local time, in the hope of appeasing disgruntled airlines.

No more late-night fees for airlines at BER

From January 2027, airlines will no longer have to pay a fee to take off and land at BER Airport after 10pm local time, according to a report from Berliner Morgenpost. The airport currently has a tiered noise surcharge system. 

After 10pm, airlines pay 112 euros per takeoff/landing for smaller aircraft, such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. Fees can reach 448 euros per takeoff/landing for larger aircraft. BER currently has a night flight ban between 12am and 5.30am.

To balance the books, BER will increase the standard fees airlines pay to operate at BER. The Aircraft Noise Commission will now discuss the plan, but has no influence on the final implementation.

FBB hopes to please unhappy airlines

A spokesperson from Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg (FBB), the body that operates BER Airport, told Tagesspiegel that scrapping the late-night fees was an attempt to appease disgruntled airlines.

Ryanair recently announced that it would cut operations at BER by 50 percent (scrapping a total of 12 routes), cut operations in Hamburg by 5 percent, and cease all operations at Bremen Airport. 

These are just the latest developments in a years-long campaign by the Irish budget airline against the taxes airlines must pay to operate in Germany. 

In November last year, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) reduced the aviation tax (Luftverkehrsabgabe) introduced by the previous SPD-Greens-FDP government, but the airline continues to demand further cuts.

Ryanair has also warned passengers to expect higher fares in 2027. Speaking at a press conference on October 20, CEO Michael O’Leary said European airfares will see their “biggest increase in history” of around 10, 15 or 20 percent.

Ryanair was Europe’s most profitable airline in 2025. In the six months to the end of September 2025, the company’s profits rose by 42 percent to 2,54 billion euros. 

However, a 256 million euro fine from Italy's competition watchdog for "abusing its dominant position" saw final-quarter profits drop by 83 percent compared to the previous year.