Market Overview: Scotland to Germany

Last year I made a series of presentations about market share across Scotland to the ten largest inbound tourist markets as identified by Visit Scotland. Now that 2024 has concluded and we have a years worth of data I thought it would be a good idea to revisit each of these markets in a bit more detail.

A disclaimer is needed here, I have done this from an airport neutral point of view, and it is very important to remember that just because a load factor is high, that does not necessarily mean that yields are high.

This particular post is focusing specifically on the Scotland-Germany market, which is the second largest inbound tourism market for Scotland.

For those unfamiliar with the route networks and airlines below is a summary of the routes and airlines that operated flights in 2024;

• Edinburgh to Berlin with easyJet and Ryanair
• Edinburgh to Cologne with Eurowings
• Edinburgh to Dusseldorf with easyJet and Eurowings
• Edinburgh to Frankfurt with Lufthansa
• Edinburgh to Munich with easyJet and Lufthansa
• Edinburgh to Stuttgart with Eurowings
• Edinburgh to “Dusseldorf” Weeze with Ryanair
• Glasgow to Berlin with easyJet
• Glasgow to Frankfurt with Lufthansa

There are a couple of quick disclaimers I will make now, airlines added some extra routes from Scotland in 2024 for the Euros which took place in Germany, these route are not going to be mentioned in this post as they are one off flights that operated.

Second disclaimer is the very presence of the Euros tournament in June and July which significantly boosted passenger numbers during those months, therefore, 2024 is not the best year for drawing conclusions about demand between Scotland and Germany, but the impact of the Euros will likely be felt in the years to come with the positive reception Scotland fans received in Germany likely to increase bookings in both directions.

If you would like to skip to a specific section of this post then you can use the contents table below to skip to wherever in the post you like;

1. Passenger Numbers Per Month
2. Passenger Numbers Per Year
3. Market Share Per Airport
4. Route Specific Information
   1. Berlin
   2. Cologne
   3. Dusseldorf
   4. Frankfurt
   5. Munich
   6. Stuttgart
   7. “Dusseldorf” Weeze
5. Previously Served Destinations
   1. Bremen
   2. “Frankfurt” Hahn
   3. Hamburg
   4. Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden
   5. Memmingen
   6. About The Author

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Passenger Numbers Per Month

Similarly to France, the seasonality difference at Edinburgh and Glasgow is rather significant, with passenger numbers at Edinburgh being significantly higher in the summer when compared to the winter, with no route at Glasgow actually being seasonal in operation unlike Edinburgh.

The range of airlines serving Edinburgh lends itself to much more even split between inbound and outbound travellers, with easyJet, Eurowings and Ryanair all being well know brands in Germany and all being well established in Edinburgh as well. easyJet does offer flights to Glasgow, but only on a limited schedule making Edinburgh the more appealing option for inbound travel.

Lufthansa primarily operates flights to transfer passengers through their Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

Passenger Numbers Per Year

Passenger numbers between Scotland and Germany were operating at 91.85% of 2019 levels, however, this has not been spread equally across each airport in Scotland, rather, flights have consolidated in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with Aberdeen having long lost its German flights with Lufthansa, and there does not appear to be a clear airline or route that would likely return to the network in the near future.

The recovery rate for each Scottish Airport that had service in 2019 can be seen below;

• Aberdeen = Suspended
• Edinburgh = 95.39%
• Glasgow = 76.26%

Market Share Per Airport

Market share in the central belt of Scotland was increasing every year until 2018 when Ryanair closed their base in Glasgow. As a result of this base closure the airline ended flights to Berlin and Frankfurt causing passenger numbers to drop significantly, and as services were moved to Edinburgh passenger numbers increased there at the same time.

Post pandemic market share has slowly been increasing in Edinburgh at the expense of Glasgow, and based on currently public schedules this trend is expected to continue in 2025.

Route Specific Information

Berlin

I feel like in this series I have typed this a lot in this series, however, as per normal Edinburgh Airport has exceeded 2019 levels, whereas Glasgow lags significantly behind its 2019 figures.

In 2024, passenger numbers were operating at 87.46% of 2019 levels, with the recovery levels of each airport being outlined below;

• Edinburgh = 101.96%
• Glasgow = 51.80%

Although this data says a lot, I actually also want to highlight the recovery rate in 2024 when compared to 2018 levels, these are outline below;

• Edinburgh = 187.37%
• Glasgow = 24.46%

These comparisons really highlight just how slow the recovery rate at Glasgow Airport has been, and how Edinburgh Airport has been able to secure additional flights to help boost its passenger figures and help boost its recovery rate.

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

easyJet Europe

• Movements will decrease from 10 to 8 – equating to a decrease of 20%
  • This means decreasing from 5 to 4 round trips
• Seats available will decrease from 1,860 to 1,440 – equating to a decrease of 23%

easyJet UK

• Movements will remain the same at 360 – the same as Summer 2024
  • This means that 180 round trips will operate
• Seats available will remain the same at 66,960 – the same as Summer 2024

Ryanair FR

• Movements will decrease from 438 to 300 – equating to a reduction of 32%
  • The means reducing from 219 to 150 round trips
• Seats available will reduce from 84,862 to 58,140 – equating to a decrease of 31%

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Glasgow Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

easyJet UK

• Movements will increase from 200 to 202 – equating to an increase of 1%
  • This means increasing from 100 to 101 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 34,080 to 36,372 – equating to an increase of 7%

Cologne

Flights between Edinburgh and Cologne are operated by Eurowings using a mix of Airbus and leased Boeing aircraft, with Edinburgh being the only airport in Scotland having regularly scheduled flights to Cologne since 2015.

Passenger numbers in 2024 are operating at 98.65% of 2019 levels, and as already mentioned, Edinburgh is the only airport hosting Cologne as a destination.

I should point out that Ryanair operated a limited number of flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow in June 2024 for the Euros, the Edinburgh passengers are included in the 2024 total as the CAA does not breakdown figures by airline. For those interested 1,001 passengers flew between Glasgow and Cologne in June 2024.

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

Eurowings

• Movements will reduce from 404 to 358 – equating to a reduction of 11%
  • This means reducing from 202 to 179 round trips
• Seats available will decrease from 72,660 to 64,170 – equating to a decrease of 12%

Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf follows the same trend as Berlin in the sense it had much higher passenger numbers from Glasgow, before seeing services being reduced and later ended in favour of flights from Edinburgh.

Flights from Edinburgh are operated by Eurowings, with easyJet also announcing flights for Summer 2025. Previously flights from Glasgow were operated by Lufthansa, then Eurowings and then Loganair – BBC Scotland reported that when Lufthansa Regional moved their flights from Edinburgh to Glasgow that Edinburgh Airport “cannot understand the commercial logic behind this move and firmly believe that retaining the route at Edinburgh would have better served Scottish passengers. We’ll work hard to convince Lufthansa and all of the airlines serving Scotland that Edinburgh offers significantly more value than any other airport.” German airline switches route from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Clearly something offered by Edinburgh Airport has worked in convincing airlines to move services from Glasgow as evidenced both here and in Berlin.

When compared to 2019 passenger numbers between Scotland and Dusseldorf were operating at 79.77% of 2019 levels, with the breakdown for each Scottish Airport below;

• Edinburgh = 135.96%
• Glasgow = 0%

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

easyJet UK

• Movements will increase from 0 to 102 – a new service for Summer 2025
  • This means increasing from 0 to 51 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 0 to 18,972

Eurowings

• Movements will increase from 332 to 380 – equating to an increase of 14%
  • This means increasing from 166 to 190 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 56,536 to 63,540 – equating to an increase of 12%

Although no airlines have announced flights from Glasgow I should point out that AGS who owns Glasgow Airport has recently been acquired by AviAlliance who owns a 30% stake in Dusseldorf Airport (AviAlliance Corporate Presentation – Q2 2025). It will be interesting to see if this new ownership can attract an airline to operate a route between Glasgow and Dusseldorf.

Frankfurt

Flights between Scotland and Lufthansa are primarily operated to provide connections onto Lufthansa’s European and Long Haul network and has benefited from a significantly smaller route network at Glasgow Airport, while providing another Star Alliance option to travellers at Edinburgh.

Services from Aberdeen no longer operate having stopped in 2018 as Lufthansa stopped services to the airport to fly the aircraft elsewhere.

In 2024 passenger numbers from Scotland were operating at 141.49% of 2019 levels, with the recovery rate for each Scottish Airport below;

• Edinburgh = 130.70%
• Glasgow = 164.07%

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

• Movements will increase from 1,218 to 1,260 – equating to an increase of 3%
  • This means increasing from 609 to 630 round trips
• Seats available will decrease from 225,961 to 205,800 – equating to a decrease of 9%

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Glasgow Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

• Movements will increase from 829 to 840 – equating to an increase of 1%
  • This means increasing from 414.5 round trips to 420 round trips
• Seats available will decrease from 142,866 to 127,260 – equating to a decrease of 11%

Munich

Munich remains another destination in Germany that has seen a consolidation of service at Edinburgh Airport, but despite this, passenger numbers remain significantly below 2019 levels at both a national and local level.

By the end of 2024, passenger numbers were at 50.12% of 2019, with Edinburgh Airport having recovered 63.48% of its traffic, while Glasgow had recovered to 6.55% of 2019 levels.

easyJet UK

• Movements will increase from 180 to 220 – equating to an increase of 22%
  • This means increasing from 90 to 110 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 33,480 to 40,920 – equating to an increase of 22%

Lufthansa – including Lufthansa City and Lufthansa CityLine

Lufthansa has since added additional flights between Edinburgh and Lufthansa, increasing the route to 9 weekly over the summer holidays thus adding more seats and movements to the above totals.

As for Glasgow Airport no airline has announced flights to Munich after Lufthansa’s limited run of flights in Winter 2023/2024 which did not achieve particularly high load factors.

Stuttgart

Flights between Edinburgh and Stuttgart are operated by Eurowings, with Stuttgart being the last destination in Germany to return to the Scottish-German route portfolio with services operating during the summer months from Edinburgh.

At the end of 2024 passenger numbers were operating at 146.72% of 2019 levels, with all traffic operating through Edinburgh.

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following in terms of movements and seats;

Eurowings

• Movements will increase from 210 to 214 – equating to an increase of 2%
  • This means increasing from 105 to 107 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 35,040 to 36,720 – equating to an increase of 5%

“Dusseldorf” Weeze

Flights to “Dusseldorf” Weeze – also referred to by the CAA as “Niederrhein” is an exclusive route to Edinburgh Airport is is solely operated by Ryanair. Flights operate on a year round basis and are operated by a mix of Boeing 737 and Boeing 737-8-200 aircraft.

At the end of 2024 passenger numbers on the route were at 146.72% of 2019 levels, with a significant increase in passengers from 2022 to 2023 with further year-on-year growth.

Ryanair FR

• Movements will increase from 362 to 374 – equating to an increase of 3%
  • This means increasing from 181 to 187 round trips
• Seats available will increase from 69,634 to 72,126 – equating to an increase of 4%

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Previously Served Destinations

This section contains information on passenger numbers on routes that have operated between Scotland and Germany that has operated at any point between 2015 and 2024, with information on airlines where possible.

Bremen

Flights between Edinburgh and Bremen were operated by Ryanair and operated until 2017. Since these flights stopped operating no other airline has taken over the service, and looking to the rest of 2025, no airline has announced plans to take over the route.

Based on current airline serving Edinburgh the most likely candidate would be Ryanair, assuming they start growing traffic in Germany again – for context Ryanair is currently demanding that airport fees and taxes in Germany are reduced.

“Frankfurt” Hahn

Flights between Edinburgh and Frankfurt Hahn were operated by Ryanair and operated until 2018. Since these flights stopped operating no other airline has taken over the service, and looking to the rest of 2025, no airline has announced plans to take over the route.

Calling the airport Frankfurt Hahn is a bit misleading seeing as the airport is 124km from Frankfurt city centre, yet it is approximately 117km to Luxembourg – make of that as you will.

Based on current airline serving Edinburgh the most likely candidate would be Ryanair, assuming they start growing traffic in Germany again – for context Ryanair is currently demanding that airport fees and taxes in Germany are reduced.

Hamburg

Flights between Edinburgh and Hamburg were operated by both easyJet UK and Ryanair with easyJet UK ending flights first, and Ryanair following at the end of March 2025 – again part of the ongoing dispute with German aviation taxes and airport fees.

For summer 2025 no airline has announced a recovery of the Hamburg route, with Eurowings being the most likely candidate following the airlines recent growth in the Scottish capital.

One interesting observation, similar to Dusseldorf, is the recent acquisition of Glasgow Airport by AviAlliance who also own a 49% stake in Hamburg Airport. Given the connection between the two airports from an ownership perspective it will be interesting to see if Hamburg will return to the Scottish routes portfolio, albeit from a different airport.

Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden

Flights between Edinburgh and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden were operated by Ryanair and operated until 2020. Since these flights stopped operating no other airline has taken over the service, and looking to the rest of 2025, no airline has announced plans to take over the route.

The destination did make a very temporary return to the Edinburgh Airport departure boards in 2024 as Ryanair operated two return flights for fans travelling to the Euros.

Memmingen

Flights between Edinburgh and Memmingen were operated by Ryanair and operated until 2020. Since these flights stopped operating no other airline has taken over the service, and looking to the rest of 2025, no airline has announced plans to take over the route.