Ryanair is considering cutting more flights from medium and small Spanish airports next winter and in 2026 if operator Aena AENA.MC does not lower its fees, newspaper El Economista reported on Monday citing the Irish airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson.
Regional airports “need low fees to stimulate growth”, Wilson told El Economista in an interview, “otherwise the formula will not work”, he said, adding that the company would not invest in loss-making operations.
In January Ryanair announced that it is scaling back its flight services in Spain by around 800,000 seats this summer citing “excessive fees” from airports.
The budget carrier said it planned to reduce its traffic in the country by 18 per cent, which equates to around 12 routes after complaining of Spain’s airport operator Aena’s charges and lack of incentives for growth.
While the Spanish government decided to freeze airport charges for five years during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Ryanair claims that Aena has attempted to increase charges every year despite this, especially at Spanish regional airports.
Due to this, the airline said it would cease operations at Jerez airport in southern Spain and Valladolid airport further north and remove one aircraft based in Santiago.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said at the time that the airline increased its capacity in Spain to boost tourism and employment following the government’s commitment to recovery post-Covid.
“However, Aena persists with unjustified rate increases and refuses to implement effective incentive systems to support Spain’s regional growth, prioritising foreign investment in airports in the Caribbean, the UK and America”, he said.
The largest European airline in terms of passenger numbers said in January that it would reduce flights at seven regional airports in Spain this summer and cancel some 800,000 passenger seats compared to the previous year.
However, it added 1.5 million seats at popular larger airports such as Madrid, Malaga and Alicante, according to El Economista.
A spokesperson for Aena declined to comment, though the company in January called Ryanair’s arguments “spurious” and said its fees were among the lowest in the region.
