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Ryanair scraps a dozen Spanish routes due to rising airport costs
The budget airline blames Spain’s airport management company for the axed flights
Last year, Ryanair warned that flights were bound to become more expensive if Aena, Spain’s airport management company, implemented its threatened tax hikes on airlines, but the result is even more devastating. The budget carrier has just announced that it will axe 12 summer routes to Spain, eliminating 800,000 seats.
The 2025 schedule will see flights completely pulled from two airports and frequencies reduced at another five due to the “excessive rates” applied by Aena. According to Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson, higher taxes and a lack of “viable” incentives are harming regional airports, limiting their growth and wasting airport capacity.
“These airports have the necessary infrastructure and security, but they do not have the appropriate pricing infrastructure,” he said during a press conference on Thursday January 16.
As a result, Ryanair has decided to completely cease operations at Jerez airport in Cádiz and Valladolid airport, it will withdraw one aircraft based in Santiago de Compostela and will reduce traffic in Vigo (-61%), Santiago (-28%), Zaragoza (-20%), Asturias (-11%) and Santander (-5%) in what the company considers a “completely avoidable” loss.
This means that Ryanair will reduce its capacity by 18% in Spain during the 2025 summer season because it believes that Aena's regional airports are less competitive than their European equivalents. To save money, the Irish airline plans to increase its presence in more affordable destinations such as Sweden, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Morocco.
Ryanair, which is currently the largest airline in Spain in terms of passenger numbers, says it has no choice but to redeploy in countries “where governments encourage growth.”
Ryanair has been the most vociferous of all the airlines about Aena’s hefty airport fees and now it looks as though holidaymakers will be the ones paying the price.
In 2024, Aena's Spanish airports saw a record-breaking 309 million passengers, driven by an unprecedented influx of foreign tourists. And while the Spanish authorities are optimistic that this tourism boom will carry over into 2025, Ryanair’s decision could put a serious dent in their profits.
Image: Archive
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