Ryanair has announced it will shut its Berlin operating base and slash its winter flight schedule to the German capital, blaming soaring aviation taxes. The Irish budget airline said it will relocate seven aircraft to other European hubs, cutting its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year.

From October, flights will continue but will be operated by planes based elsewhere. Staff based in Berlin are being offered transfers to other locations across Europe. Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair's main operating company, said: "German aviation is broken. The government admits that it is uncompetitive, yet there is no strategy to cut aviation taxes or high airport fees - despite Ryanair warning that Germany would lose traffic, connectivity, jobs and trade. "Since 2019, Ryanair has been forced to close its bases in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart ... in addition to stopping all flights to Dresden, Leipzig and Dortmund." The airline said those closures resulted in the loss of 13 aircraft from its German bases.

The move has sparked backlash from trade union Verdi, which branded the plans a "purely profit-oriented corporate strategy".

Dennis Dacke said employees had for too long been treated like "disposable commodities", accusing the airline of making location decisions based on short-term profit.

The announcement comes as the aviation industry faces mounting pressure from surging costs linked to the ongoing Gulf conflict, which has seen jet fuel prices more than double since late February.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has warned the airline may be forced to cancel up to 10% of late summer flights if fuel supply disruption continues.

The scale of the crisis was underlined by American Airlines, which said rising fuel costs could add $4bn (£3.1bn) to its expenses this year and wipe out expected profits.

Meanwhile, rail experts say the move could boost train travel to Berlin.

Jon Worth said: "The demise of Ryanair at Berlin airport should mean an opportunity for more passengers to take trains to Berlin instead."

Berlin is already directly connected by rail to major cities including Amsterdam, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Paris and Stockholm, with a new daytime service to Copenhagen launching this summer.

However, Berlin Brandenburg Airport pushed back on the airline's claims, with chief executive Aletta von Massenbach saying: "We are surprised by Ryanair's announcement. We are currently in negotiations with the airlines. There are no plans for such an increase in airport charges."

Ryanair also announced on Friday it is cutting around 10% of its summer flights from Dublin Airport, axing thousands of services.

The airline said the move is not linked to fuel costs or global tensions, but the airport's 32 million passenger cap.

Plans to grow passenger numbers by 10% have now been scrapped as a result. The carrier warned it cannot expand in Dublin until the cap is lifted.