Ryanair return? Saxony pushes for lower flight taxes

After a meeting with Ryanair, Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer is calling for significantly lower flight taxes in Germany. "Ryanair has rightly raised an important issue today: The excessive flight fees have long been a problem for Germany as a whole," the CDU politician told the German Press Agency after talks with the airline and Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG).

The latest relief from the federal government does not go far enough, he said. "The moderate tax cut by the federal government is not nearly enough. We cannot compete internationally in this way - and as the Free State of Saxony, especially in comparison to Prague," emphasized Kretschmer. MFAG is now to hold further talks with Ryanair. "We want to bring Ryanair back to Saxony," he said.

Ryanair's withdrawal and the airports' red balance sheet

The background to the exchange is possible course-setting for a return of the Irish low-cost airline to Leipzig/Halle and Dresden airports. Ryanair had already announced last year that it would continue to withdraw from Germany. Dresden and Leipzig, among others, have no longer been served since this year.

At the same time, MFAG is deep in the red financially. The holding company of Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports reported a record loss of 53.5 million euros last year. Revenue fell by 2.9 percent to 186.2 million euros, while the operating result before interest and taxes was minus 39.3 million euros.

CEO Götz Ahmelmann recently explained to the newspapers "Leipziger Volkszeitung" and "Sächsische Zeitung" that the negative result had been planned and was not a sign of a loss of control. The year had been "heavily influenced by the necessary expenses for restructuring". Additional costs for expert opinions, consultations and initial implementation steps were incurred for the restructuring that has been initiated.

Countdown to 2027 - then the money could be missing again

MFAG has been under pressure for years. An acute financial crisis was averted last year - thanks to additional bank loans and grants from the two shareholders Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. This closed a financing gap of 145 million euros and secured operations until the end of 2026 for the time being.

However, new uncertainty looms from 2027: Saxony-Anhalt has announced that it will no longer contribute to the losses of the loss-making Dresden Airport in future.