Given the flight route’s numerous changes in operators, it is perhaps no surprise that Luxair has now confirmed it will no longer operate flights between Saarbrücken and Berlin as of 1 January 2020. The national airline had taken over the route at the end of 2017 after previous operator Air Berlin declared bankruptcy.
Luxair’s aim was to achieve a minimum of 100,000 annual passengers on the route, which it failed to achieve in 2018. Only 80,000 passengers flew between the two German cities. Consequently, Luxair has decided to no longer stop at the Saarbrücken airport on its route connecting Luxembourg and Berlin and will only offer a direct connection to the German capital.
The airline only had three daily flight on the route (18 per week), which required finding a plane specifically dedicated to the connection. Given the effort required and the need to use a third party airline, Luxair confirmed it is unfortunately impossible to make the connection economically sustainable.
At first, flights were operated by Adria Airways, followed by Nordica once the former declared bankruptcy. Any customers who have made bookings between the two German cities for dates after 31 December will be contacted by Luxair and reimbursed their flight tickets.
