Is the time up for low cost terminals and piers? Ryanair won't return to Frankfurt without them

Ever since Ryanair entered the German market there has been a battle between the Irish LCC and the German flag carrier Lufthansa that has matched Ali versus Frazier in its intensity.

Indeed, the rumble in the aviation jungle carries on to this day, with two judicial awards in Ryanair's favour being made during the last two months.

Latterly, Ryanair's sights have been trained more on Frankfurt Airport, where it began operating what would become a five-aircraft base in 2017. Having quit the airport in 2022 over Frankfurt's increase in prices when it sought reduced ones, Ryanair now says it will not return there until designated low cost facilities (a pier) are made available to it in a new terminal under construction (3), and at lower rates.

It is an argument that has been heard consistently since the advent of budget airlines. But with the likelihood that both airlines and airports will increasingly focus on business travellers because leisure ones are 'dissuaded' from travelling too often, the question now is whether there is any point in designating specific terminal facilities for LCCs at primary airports - at all.