Duesseldorf After airberlin: New Ryanair base, Eurowings growth

AIRBERLIN HAD A 21% share of seats in the Duesseldorf airport system in Sep-2017, but more than two thirds of this capacity will be absorbed by other airlines in Sep-2018, resulting in a total capacity reduction of only 6%, according to data from OAG. Others are taking the opportunity to grow, particularly at the city's principal facility, Duesseldorf Airport (DUS).

Ryanair opened its 86th European base at DUS in Jun-2018, with one aircraft based at Germany's third biggest airport. It has launched three new Spanish routes from DUS to Alicante, Malaga and Palma, which it also serves from the much smaller Duesseldorf Weeze Airport. It is now going head to head with DUS market leader Eurowings on these routes.

Duesseldorf illustrates a number of key features of the current German airline landscape: the demise of airberlin and the subsequent growth of the Lufthansa Group, led by Eurowings; the growing ambitions in Germany of the leading LCCs Ryanair and easyJet and their acquisitions of former Air Berlin Group capacity; and the expansion of Germany's non-Lufthansa Group airlines (Condor, TUIfly, SunExpress Germany and Germania).