Ryanair Follows Through On Its Threat And Removes 1 Million Seats From Its Spanish Network
In July 2025, Aena, the state-owned company that manages 46 airports in Spain, said it was raising its fees by €0.68 ($0.78).
Ryanair has confirmed that due to excessive charges set by Aena, the state-owned company that manages 46 airports in Spain, it will be removing 1 million seats from Spain during the upcoming winter 2025/2026 season, targeting regional airports.
In a statement on September 3, 2025, Ryanair explained that it is planning to cut its Spanish regional airport capacity by 41%, close its two-aircraft base at Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ), and end all flights from/to Vigo–Peinador Airport (VGO) and Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport (TFN) on January 1, 2026, and the beginning of winter, respectively.
Furthermore, it will continue not to fly from/to Valladolid Airport (VLL) and Jerez Airport (XRY), while also reducing capacity at four airports, namely Asturias Airport (OVD), Santander Airport (SDR), Vitoria Airport (VIT), and Zaragoza Airport (ZAZ), by 16%, 38%, 2%, and 45%, respectively.
Ryanair will also cut 36 direct routes to regional Spain and the Canary Islands, it said, adding that once again, Aena and the Spanish government have failed the country’s regions, “whose airports are almost 70% empty.” According to the low-cost carrier, which has pulled similar moves in other European countries and/or regions in the past, airports and countries “such as Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, Sweden, etc., are reducing access costs,” boosting traffic, tourism, and employment. This makes Spain’s regional airports “hopelessly uncompetitive.”
In November 2024, for example, Ryanair and Ryanair UK, which is the company’s subsidiary airline with an air operator’s certificate (AOC) in the United Kingdom, ranked first in terms of weekly departing seats from Spain, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi.
In comparison to Ryanair and Ryanair UK’s 579,039 weekly departing seats from Spain, Iberia offered 497,452 weekly departing seats during that month. Iberia Express, Iberia’s low-cost subsidiary, had another 139,749, with the two Spanish carriers combining for a total of 637,201 weekly departing seats in November 2024.
During the same month in 2024, Ryanair and Ryanair UK’s weekly departing seats from the aforementioned Spanish regional airports – displayed in the map below – were 31,942, with the low-cost carrier now scheduling 6,848 fewer weekly seats from the nine Spanish regional airports.
Those numbers could still change as the cost-related spat between the low-cost carrier and Aena continues to develop.
Aena announced the steeper charges together with its H1 2025 financial results on July 30, 2025. The group, which also owns a 51% stake in London Luton Airport (LTN) and manages airports in Brazil, Mexico, and Jamaica, ended the six-month period with a net profit of €893.8 million ($1.04 billion).
The Spanish company said that during the fiscal year in 2026, the Maximum Annual Applicable Revenue per passenger would be €11.03 ($12.84). “Applying the legally established mathematical formula, this means an increase of 68 cents [79¢ – ed. note] per passenger compared to 2025,” it said, explaining that the growth in charges is split between unrecovered arrears (€0.45, $0.52) and an airport fare update index (€0.17, $0.20).
Aena did not explain the reasoning for the remaining €0.06 ($0.07) charge hike.
Ryanair’s Q1 FY26 results indicated that its network-wide per-passenger net expenses are €35 ($40.84), €8 ($9.34) of which are related to airport and ground handling. Ryanair spends another €6 on route charges. In comparison, its average
When Aena unveiled these charges, Ryanair’s response came the next day. Eddie Wilson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Irish low-cost carrier, blamed the Spanish airport company for “paralyzing traffic, reducing connectivity, limiting visitors, and causing the loss of thousands of jobs in regional Spain.” According to Ryanair’s estimates, the “brazen” airport charges would grow by “a staggering” 6.62% year-on-year (YoY).
Aena is not the only airport, airport management company, or government that has been called out – and threatened – publicly by Ryanair for rising operating costs.
For example, on May 29, 2025, citing substantially growing expenses at Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), Ryanair said that it has canceled all flights from/to MST from October 26, 2025. In November 2024, the airline called for the French government to drop its “short-sighted plan” to increase passenger taxes, saying that it had already been reviewing its French schedules, expecting “to reduce its capacity to and from French regional airports by 50% from January 2025 if the French government proceeds with its short-sighted plan to triple passenger taxes.”
