Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, plans to expand its operations, flights, and landings at Weeze Airport on the Lower Rhine. Marcel Meyer, RyanAir’s head in Germany, announced this to the “Rheinische Post”. This announcement comes as Weeze Airport has recently begun construction on a new arrival terminal.
Meyer, who serves as the Country Manager for the DACH region at Ryanair, commented, “This is a great sign for us initially, and I believe we have played a significant part in making it happen.” The new terminal is expected to provide passengers with more modern arrival facilities and increase the airport’s overall capacity, which could also enable new flight routes for Ryanair.
Looking ahead, a major opportunity arises in the coming year due to the temporary closure of Eindhoven Airport for runway reconstruction. Meyer revealed that by 2027, a portion of the flights that currently operate from and to Eindhoven will be routed through Weeze. He stated that it is a “logical step” for a significant number of those passengers to switch to Weeze. While these flights will eventually be returned to Eindhoven after the transition period, Weeze stands to benefit long-term because the air traffic tax in Germany is only half as high as it is in the Netherlands.
“I can imagine that Weeze will benefit in the long run. Anyone who can moderately add up would shift capacity to Weeze once they realize that it worked during this transition phase,” Meyer concluded. Based on this outlook, he considers 3.5 million passengers realistic for Weeze Airport in the future. Last year, Weeze counted 2.2 million passengers, and 2.4 million are targeted for 2026.
