While Berlin is the capital of and largest city in Germany, Brandenburg Airport (BER) is only the third-busiest airport in the country by total passenger traffic.
Together, the airports in Frankfurt and Munich saw over 109 million travelers pass through them in 2025 while Berlin brought in just slightly over 26 million.
After Germany raised its Luftverkehrsabgabe air passenger tax by more than 20% between 2024 and 2026, multiple low-cost airlines have in the last year also chosen to exit the airport in favor of other destinations. After canceling 12 routes from Berlin to various European cities, Dublin-based low-cost carrier Ryanair closed down its base at Brandenburg in October 2026 as chief executive Michael O’Leary continues to battle with German lawmakers over what he classifies as a “stupid” tax.
Air Transat to permanently exit Berlin-Toronto market
Canadian vacation airline Air Transat is the latest airline to pull out of Berlin by canceling a route from Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) that it started in June 2025.
As first reported by aviation outlet Simple Flying, the airline is no longer restarting what was a seasonal route running between June and October for the 2027 season. The flight was brought back after an 11-year absence when Air Transat first cut the route in 2014.
Related: Air Canada cancels all flights to city due to low demand
The nine-hour, 4,050-mile flight ran three times a week on a Airbus A321LR plane with room for 199 passengers. As Berlin was the only city in Germany to which Air Transat was slated to fly in 2027, the cancelation of the route means a complete market exit from the country. The only carrier that will be running a direct route to Berlin from Canada is national airline Air Canada, which restarted its Montreal-Berlin route earlier this year.
Air Transat has not commented on the route cancelation beyond confirming that it would get cut as part of wider network optimization plans. Low demand relative to jet fuel prices, rather than the air passenger tax, appears to be the primary consideration for axing the route.
Air Transat brought back its flight between Toronto and Berlin in 2025.Nikada / Getty Images
Why are so many airlines pulling out of Berlin
After significantly expanding its European network to more than 30 destinations over the last year, Air Transat has been trimming it down to reduce unprofitable routes at a time of elevated jet fuel prices.
Seasonal flights to London Gatwick (LGW) and Keflavik International (KEF) from Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) are also not being brought back in 2027. Operating primarily as a vacation airline, Air Transat launched in 1986 with shuttling tourists from Quebec and eventually more Canadian provinces to warm-weather destinations.
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To replace them, Air Transat is adding new routes to Lyon (LYS) in France and Barcelona (BCN) in Spain from Quebec City (YQB) and a flight to Geneva from Montreal (YUL) as part of a bigger bet on travel between cities in the French-speaking world.
“These new routes are part of our diversification strategy from Québec City and respond to growing interest in distinctive European destinations,” Air Transat’s Chief Revenue Officer Sebastian Ponce said at the time that the new routes were announced in May 2026.
Related: Low-cost airline nearly exits an entire market