Ryanair threatens to slash another million seats on Spain flights next summer in row over airport taxes

Ryanair is threatening to cut another million seats on flights in Spain next summer if the state-owned Spanish airports operator Aena does not backtrack and lower the airport taxes charged to airlines, after the last increase of 6.5%. This cut would be in addition to the 800,000 seats that the Irish airline stopped scheduling for this summer that has aready ended and the one million scapped his winter. In other words, the airline could pull a total of up to three million seats on flights in Spain if the Spanish company chaired by Maurici Lucena is not prepared to accept the demands of its major client in terms of passenger volume.

The announcement was made by Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, in an interview with the Financial Times; as always, true to his explosive communication style: "I plan to return to Madrid in two weeks and will probably announce another million seats being cut next summer".

As a result, the low-cost Irish airline is intensifying the battle in this war, which in addition to the nearly two million seats, has also claimed the loss of the Irish airline company from up to seven regional airports this summer. At the moment, the company's strategy is to relocate traffic to other countries that it considers to have more competitive charges and also a better incentive model for regional airports.

This crisis began in March 2024, when Aena raised airport fares by 40 cents, ending ten years of frozen prices. This was accompanied by the launch of a plan, by the Ministry of Transport, to recover pre-pandemic traffic at 17 regional airports that had less than 3 million passengers per year. The measure included discounts of 100% on some fares for additional passengers compared to those existing for each company in the equivalent season of 2023, among other things.

In any case, Ryanair asked for more incentives, mainly the freezing of taxes, and in the face of Aena's refusals - the company assures that legally it cannot give favourable treatment to any company - the Irish company responded with this wave of cuts, which could reach three million seats on flights to and from Spain. The Irish airline even went so far as to demand that Aena put an end to its management model, which it considers "monopolistic", and transfer control of regional airfields to the regions.

"If the costs to use regional airports in Spain are too high, I will fly elsewhere. We are better off flying for the same price to cities like Palma rather than Jerez," O'Leary told the Financial Times, in a statement in which he also took the opportunity to point the finger at the Spanish government to ask it to put pressure on the aiport management company, in which he owns the majority of the capital: "If the Spanish government cannot persuade Aena, I have no desire to serve them."