Fewer flights, higher prices: Germany's low-cost market in change!

Fewer flights, higher prices: Germany's low-cost market in change!

The world of flying changes, and not only at airy heights. According to the new "DLR Monitor Air Transport and Low-Cost", the low-cost sector in Germany and Europe has developed further and shows some interesting trends. Almost a third of the flights offered in Europe are eliminated by low-cost carriers, whereby Germany has only a sunken market share of 21.4 percent in a European comparison. Germany is thus behind countries such as Spain, Great Britain, Italy and France, and shows that there is a certain need to catch up here.

like the DLR were reported in a reference week in January 2025 38,000 low-cost flights with 16 active airlines registered. Germany ranks fifth and, with 2,316 weekly starts of 15 low-cost airlines, offers an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year, but the statistics do not shine because there is still a 56 percent decline since 2019.

market shares in international comparison

The low-cost segment is popular internationally. Around 4.7 billion passengers flew worldwide in 2024, an increase of 2 percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. However, the total number of flights fell by 5 percent to 36.3 million, of which 11 million are eliminated to the low-cost segment. In Europe, the low-cost segment has a market share of 31 percent, while the Asia-Pacific region even reaches 35 percent. Germany therefore has to come up with a lot, because inner-German low-cost traffic has shrunk to only 15 percent.

The Finance Yahoo shows that Ryanair is still under the Low-cost-Carrier in Germany, Although the airline has reduced its offer by 33 percent in recent years from 2019 to 2024. Eurowings with over 900 flights per week is currently the largest provider in Germany, followed by Ryanair with 692 flights and Wizz Air with 317 flights.

prices and business models

But what does flying with these companies cost? In the spring of 2025, the average gross prices for low-cost flights in Germany were between 67 and 130 euros. With 67 euros, Wizz Air offers the cheapest flights, followed by Ryanair (80 euros) and Easyjet (86 euros). However, ticket prices are often significantly higher at short notice, which shows that fresh air fans in particular sometimes have to dig deeper into their pockets. Of course, early bird prices from 44 to 90 euros are also possible.

In recent years, low-cost carriers have increasingly developed hybrid business models. While you are focused on a certain route and offer little extra service, try to adapt to the price level of your classic competitors. According to Statista , the market share of low-cost carriers in Germany was around 40 percent in January 2024. This shows that the industry is developing dynamically, even if the prices have recently increased due to increased air traffic tax.

Overall, it remains to be seen how the market will develop in Germany. With the decline in the inner German flights, one or the other stone will certainly remain over to be attractive for travelers.