Ryanair to unveil regional Spanish airports hit by severe flight cuts

Thursday 28 August 2025 - 13:20

By: Dakir Madiha

Ryanair to unveil regional Spanish airports hit by severe flight cuts

Low-cost airline Ryanair is set to announce significant reductions in flights to and from regional airports in Spain this winter, confirming plans to cut an additional one million passenger seats. The move comes amid ongoing tensions with Aena, the Spanish airport network, over fee increases.

Sharp reductions at regional hubs

Ryanair has long criticized Aena’s decision to raise airline fees, arguing that it undermines the competitiveness of smaller regional airports, many of which are severely underutilized. Eddie Wilson, Ryanair's CEO, has called the reductions "quite severe," with a formal announcement on specific airports and seat cuts expected at a press conference in Madrid next week.

The airline has already scaled back operations in Spain this year, including cutting 800,000 seats and canceling 12 routes over the summer. Airports such as Jerez and Valladolid have seen Ryanair cease operations entirely, while others like Santiago de Compostela, Asturias, Cantabria, and Zaragoza have experienced route reductions.

Despite these cutbacks, Ryanair continues to expand at major airports, adding 1.5 million seats to hubs like Madrid, Málaga, and Alicante. The airline stresses that traffic will grow at large airports and those in the Balearic and Canary Islands, which remain key to its operations.

A battle over fees

At the heart of the issue is Aena’s revised fee structure for 2027-2031, which includes significant investments to expand major airports in Barcelona and Madrid. To finance this, Aena plans to increase airline fees by 68 cents per passenger, raising the adjusted maximum revenue per passenger to €11.03. The increase marks the end of a long-standing fee freeze and represents the largest hike in a decade.

Ryanair argues that the move makes smaller airports less attractive and less viable. Wilson has criticized Aena as a “monopoly” and pointed to examples of airports in Italy and Sweden that have lowered fees to boost competitiveness. “If we, the lowest-cost airline in Europe, can’t make them work, no one can,” he stated.

Broader implications

Ryanair’s ongoing tensions with Aena reflect a broader issue in Spain’s aviation sector. The country is home to numerous underused or "ghost" airports, with Ryanair repeatedly warning that higher fees will worsen this problem. The airline's outspoken CEO, Michael O’Leary, has previously threatened further capacity cuts if Aena does not reconsider its pricing strategy.

Despite these challenges, Ryanair remains a dominant force in European aviation, carrying 200 million passengers last year. However, its latest cuts will likely hit smaller Spanish airports hard, potentially leaving some regions with reduced connectivity as winter approaches.