Ryanair is reportedly considering cutting more aircraft and flights from small and medium sized Spanish airports next winter and in 2026, if airport operator Aena does not lower its fees, El Economista has reported.
Speaking to the Spanish media outlet, Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, stated: “There will be more cuts in the winter of 2025, and even more in the summer of 2026, because it makes no sense to continue investing in loss-making operations.”
Wilson also said that the “rational decision” would be to move traffic to where access costs are falling, and that the airline has no plans to invest in regional airports because their pricing structure is “broken”.
In January, Ryanair announced that it would cut capacity at Spanish regional airports by 18% during the summer period of 2025 due to “excessive” regional airport fees implemented by Aena.
These cuts will affect 12 routes across the airline’s Spanish network and will result in the loss of 800,000 seats, when compared to the pervious summer season.
In a statement the airline criticised Aena for “trying to increase fees every year” with emphasis on “sharply rising fees” at the country’s regional airports, where traffic has not yet returned to pre-COVID levels.
Aena responded to the Irish airline’s compliant citing that its average fee of €10.35 ($10.66) per passenger, that airlines pay Aena, is “one of the lowest in Europe”.
The airport operator added: “Ryanair uses spurious arguments that do not correspond to the reality of airport charges in Spain, to confuse citizens and shamelessly put pressure on national and regional public institutions."