Ryanair threatens Spain with more cuts if airport fees rise

Ryanair warned on Monday that it will further cut connections in Spain if the government does not intervene to block the 21% inflation increase in airport fees that operator Aena intends to implement in the next regulatory framework (Dora III, 2027-2031).

The low-cost company made it clear that it will not invest in infrastructure it already considers "manifestly uncompetitive" and placed the decision in the hands of the government - the airport operator's main shareholder with 51% of the capital, which will receive 834 million euros this year as part of the record 1.65-billion-euro dividend approved by Aena.

According to data Ryanair has provided, Spanish regional airports remain underutilised by approximately 70% and continue losing capacity month after month. Since the summer of 2024, the airline has cut three million seats at these facilities, with complete operational closures in Asturias, Valladolid, Jerez, Tenerife North and Vigo. There have also been drastic declines in Santiago (-79%), Zaragoza (-45%) and Santander (-41%), in addition to smaller decreases in Girona (-7%) and the Canary Islands (-6%).

The airline attributes this collapse to the high-cost model Aena maintains, which the government has supported despite its status as a state monopoly. The airport operator's profit margins reach 60%, a percentage that Ryanair considers "excessive" and sustained at the expense of local economies. This policy, the company states, is diverting tourist flows to competing markets such as Morocco, where Ryanair expects to grow by 11% this year, and Italy (+9%).

In addition to the complaint about dividends, there is also criticism of how Aena's profits are being used. Over the past 12 months, the airport operator has invested 800 million euros outside of Spain: 483 million in Brazilian airports and 309 million in UK infrastructure, in addition to previously committed funds in Mexico and Jamaica. Ryanair says that this policy contradicts the official discourse of "balanced regional development", since the resources generated by the Spanish monopoly are being transferred abroad while domestic airports are left empty.

In total, the dividends Aena has paid the government in the last four years amount to nearly five billion euros, which, according to the airline, has generated a budgetary dependence that prevents the government from renouncing the 21% plus inflation rate increase foreseen in the Dora III (2027-2031).

Ryanair's CEO, Eddie Wilson, has been unequivocal: "The Spanish government keeps neglecting regional Spain. It is extraordinary that dividends are being prioritised and that money generated by Spanish airports is being sent abroad to invest in the UK, Mexico, Jamaica and Brazil, at the expense of areas that are losing routes, tourists and jobs."

Wilson reminds the government that it "has the power" to block the Dora III fee increase thanks to its controlling stake and demanded that it act before the situation worsens. "A government cannot claim to be committed to balanced regional development while collecting billions in dividends and overseeing the transfer of capital to foreign airports, when Spanish regional airports are 70% empty," he says.

The company maintains that, with competitive rates, it could increase its operations in Spain by 40%: it would add 33 new aircraft based in the country, open five new regional bases and raise traffic to 77 million passengers annually by 2031.

However, Ryanair warns that it will not commit to this investment if Aena confirms the planned increase. "It makes no sense to increase the cost of infrastructure that is already clearly uncompetitive," the airline states, urging the government to reinvest monopoly profits in lowering regional rates instead of distributing extraordinary dividends.

The clash between Ryanair and the Spanish government is long-standing. Since the summer of 2024, the airline has been staging its gradual withdrawal from Spain with base closures and route cancellations, which have particularly strained relations with the Ministry of Transport.

Minister Óscar Puente went so far as to describe the company's warnings as "blackmail" and accused Michael O'Leary of using regional airports as a "bargaining chip" to force a reduction in Aena's charges. Ryanair, for its part, responded with a series of announcements regarding capacity cuts in Jerez, Valladolid, Vigo, Tenerife North and Asturias, presenting these as the direct consequence of a pricing model it considers "manifestly uncompetitive".

This dispute was compounded by an open conflict with the Ministry of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, which sanctioned the main low-cost airlines (including Ryanair) for charging for hand luggage and other practices deemed abusive. The company appealed the fine, leading to another public clash with the government.

The result is a deteriorating relationship in which Aena, the ministries involved and the airline maintain increasingly divergent positions: the government defends its policy of airport fees and dividends as a guarantee of the network's sustainability, while Ryanair insists that this strategy is emptying regional airports and diverting tourists to Morocco, Italy and other more competitive European markets.

Against this backdrop, the summer of 2026 is already shaping up with a further reduction of 1.2 million seats in Ryanair's regional network in Spain - a drop that the airline presents as the prelude to a future in which tourist connectivity could further shift to European and North African competitors, if the government does not rectify its tariff policy.