Travellers will find fewer low-cost options at Spanish regional airports this summer.
ADVERTISEMENTEuropean low-cost behemoth and one of the biggest budget airlines in the world, Ryanair has pulled thousands of seats from its schedules for 2025 across several Spanish airports.
In all, seven airports will have their Ryanair services reduced, some by as little as five per cent. Others will see the exit of the budget airline entirely.
Overall, Ryanair is removing a total of 800,000 seats from the Spanish market, representing 18 per cent of its overall operations in the country. Twelve routes will be lost altogether.
The airline says this is because of the fees imposed by Spanish airport operator Aena, which it deems ‘excessive.’ However, Aena has hit back at the airline, accusing it of ‘blackmail’ and suggesting that Ryanair is using its weight to try and get airport access for free.
“Unfortunately, this is Ryanair’s modus operandi,” says Maurici Lucena, President of Aena. “In many European countries, we have seen it for years: threats, half-truths, lies…; but in the case of Spain, I honestly believe that today they have crossed the Rubicon of respect, good faith and the most basic business and institutional courtesy.”
Which airports are losing Ryanair service?
It is mainly regional airports in Spain that are losing either part or all of their Ryanair services.
Most affected are Jerez and Valladolid, which the budget airline will pull out of entirely.
According to Aena, Valladolid will be left with only one commercial operator once Ryanair exits – Binter Canarias, with its twice-weekly service to Gran Canaria.
Jerez will fare better, with existing services from Binter, Air Nostrum and Vueling connecting it to Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorca, Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
Of the other airports, Vigo will lose the most capacity, with Ryanair cutting 61 per cent of its flights.
At Santiago, Ryanair will remove one aircraft from its base there, leading to a 28 per cent reduction in capacity. Zaragoza, Asturias and Santander will also lose a few Ryanair flights.
“Aena’s excessive airport charges and lack of workable growth incentives continue to undermine Spain’s regional airports,” says Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair. “As a result, Ryanair will cease its entire Jerez and Valladolid operations, remove 1 based aircraft from Santiago ($100m investment) and reduce traffic in Vigo, Santiago, Zaragoza, Asturias, and Santander (loss of 800,000 seats) in Summer 2025.”
What are the fees Ryanair is unhappy with?
Aena says that the average charge being paid by airlines for airport services as of 1 March will remain frozen at €10.35 per passenger, the same as it was in 2024.
“Aena’s refusal to incentivise airlines to use underutilised capacity at its regional airports has forced Ryanair to reallocate aircraft and capacity to more competitive European markets,” Wilson adds.
However, Aena disputes the assertion that they are not incentivising airlines to make use of regional airports. At the end of October 2024, the airport management company approved an initiative to stimulate growth by subsidising its 17 regional airports.
ADVERTISEMENTSpecifically, for those airports with fewer than three million passengers and which had not returned to their pre-pandemic passenger levels, Aena has offered a 100 per cent discount for additional passengers over and above the 2023 levels.
Aena says that, in reality, this incentive scheme would reduce Ryanair’s per-passenger fee to just €2.
“Aena cordially urges Ryanair to calm down and abandon its long-standing and regrettably well-known mendacious, aggressive and threatening business and communication strategy,” the airport operator says, “which it is very difficult not to interpret as an attempt to blackmail Aena, the region and, ultimately, the Spanish public.”
Are the fees at Spanish airports hampering growth?
Aena says its fees are amongst the lowest in Europe, although Ryanair says this isn’t true.
ADVERTISEMENTInflationary pressures have seen everything become more expensive, including in aviation. From fuel and staff to supplies and services, it all costs more than it used to and airlines have been quick to pass on to passengers.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that airfares increased 16 per cent in 2024 compared with 2019. However, Airports Council International (ACI) has published research that suggests they’re more like 38 per cent higher.
On the other hand, airports have not been able to raise their charges to the same magnitude. ACI says that airport charges in Europe rose just 13.6 per cent in 2024, far below the cost increases airports are experiencing.
“Many airports have yet to fully reflect inflationary pressures in their user charges,” says Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe. “Regulators are often oblivious of these pressures and of how debt accumulated through COVID is hurting their investment capabilities.”
ADVERTISEMENTPart of Ryanair’s argument is that Aena was allowed to raise fees by 4.09 per cent in 2024, despite the Spanish government ruling in 2021 that airport fees would be frozen for five years.
In 2023, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) approved the rise, which shakes out to a total of €0.40 more per passenger. Aena again proposed an increase for 2025, which would have added €0.05 to the cost for airlines, but it was refused by CNMC.
Despite Ryanair’s assertions that fees are at the heart of its schedule changes, the argument weakens when its entire Spanish operation is considered.
“I am surprised that they are questioning the profitability of these routes,” says Lucena. He goes on to explain that Ryanair’s flights from the regional airports have been full – fuller even than those at major city airports.
ADVERTISEMENTThroughout 2024, Ryanair increased its activity at Spanish airports by 8.7 per cent. For 2025, despite the cuts the airline has planned, its Spanish activities will increase again, with around 5 per cent more flights overall.
Ryanair is continuing to grow at the largest and most touristic Spanish airports. These airports do not attract the incentive discount, and airlines are charged the full €10.35 per passenger.
“In reality, what Ryanair has announced is that it will withdraw a very small percentage, in relative terms, of its total operations,” says Lucena. “The 800,000 seats they announced account for exactly 1.21 per cent of all passenger traffic they carried in 2024.”
He adds that Ryanair is masking business-led route cuts to exert pressure on Aena and the government.
ADVERTISEMENTLucena even goes so far as to say that, under Spanish law, Ryanair’s moves could even be considered illegal. “In short, it’s all rather unpleasant and regrettable,” he concludes.
In a statement, Aena reiterated its position, saying, “Despite its grandiloquent rhetoric, Ryanair’s constant public pressure boils down to a simple goal: to use a significant portion of Spanish airports for free, which would jeopardise the long-term financial sustainability of Spain’s airport system.”
