NEW ROUTES TO ALICANTE & PALMA FROM SUMMER 2026

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (Wednesday, 22 October) reaffirmed its commitment to Germany’s regions, announcing that it will operate low-cost flights from Friedrichshafen Airport from Summer ’26. Ryanair will connect Friedrichshafen with Alicante twice weekly and Palma de Mallorca three times per week, providing the citizens of Friedrichshafen and the surrounding Lake Constance region with new connections to two popular summer destinations at Europe’s lowest fares. With Friedrichshafen re-joining Ryanair’s network of over 230 airports, Ryanair has continued its investment in the regional German airports offering competitive costs, boosting international connectivity and tourism while supporting local jobs and economies.

Ryanair’s investment in Germany could be far greater were it not for the Federal Govt’s repeated failure to address Germany’s high access costs, which continue to stifle traffic, tourism, jobs, and Germany’s post-COVID economic recovery. The Govt’s decision to backtrack on reversing the latest +24% aviation tax increase introduced in May ’24 has forced Ryanair to reduce its Winter ’25 schedule by over 800,000 seats and cancel 24 routes across 9 high-cost German airports (including Berlin, Hamburg, and Memmingen), while Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig airports also remain closed.

Germany’s aviation sector is being choked by excessive taxes and security fees, sky-high ATC charges and rising airport costs, making it one of the least competitive markets in Europe. While countries like Sweden, Hungary, and regions of Italy (Abruzzo, Calabria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Sicily) are abolishing aviation taxes and lowering access costs to drive traffic growth and tourism, Germany continues to lag behind, operating at just 88% of pre-COVID traffic levels.

To celebrate the launch of flights to Friedrichshafen, Ryanair is offering a special seat sale with fares starting from €34.99 for travel between April and May, bookable until the end of October and available later today on www.ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications DACH, Marcel Pouchain Meyer, said:

“We are delighted to announce the long-awaited return of Ryanair’s low-cost flights to Friedrichshafen from Summer 2026 with the launch of exciting new routes to two popular Spanish destinations, Alicante and Palma. We are excited to strengthen the connectivity of Friedrichshafen and the surrounding Lake Constance region, continuing Ryanair’s investment in Germany’s most cost-competitive regional airports and boosting tourism, jobs, and economic growth.

While Friedrichshafen and other competitive regional airports are benefitting from Ryanair’s growth this summer, Germany’s high cost, underperforming airports (such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Memmingen) continue to be crippled by high airport charges, exorbitant (and increasing) aviation / security taxes, and air traffic control charges which have doubled since 2019. These highly uncompetitive access costs have forced Ryanair to divert traffic growth from Germany to neighbouring European markets who are proactively abolishing aviation taxes and lowering access costs to deliver traffic recovery and growth (such as Sweden, Hungary, and regional Italy). It is no wonder that the German aviation market is recovering so poorly, at only 88% of pre-Covid levels.

Ryanair reiterates its call on Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder to finally act – scrap the aviation tax and cut access costs so that Germany’s air traffic can return to growth once again, instead of continuing to lag behind the rest of Europe.

To celebrate the launch of flights to Friedrichshafen, Ryanair is offering a special seat sale with fares starting from €34.99 for travel between April and May, bookable until the end of October and available later today on www.ryanair.com.”