Aena’s Airport Fee Hike Leads Ryanair To Cut Flights In Spain For Winter 2025 Season

Published on September 4, 2025

In a large alteration that could shingle up flying crossed Spain, Ryanair has said it will chop much than a cardinal wintertime seats for 2025-2026. The Irish low-cost bearer calls nan move a consequence to what it feels is “excessive” and “uncompetitive” airdrome fees group by Aena, nan usability that runs Spain’s main terminals. Ryanair argues that nan precocious costs are forcing it to driblet slots, limiting travelers’ choices and raising prices.

Key Airport Reductions and Route Cancellations

The airline, which has a beardown beingness successful Spain, will adjacent its guidelines astatine Santiago Rosalía de Castro Airport, ceasing each flights to Vigo and Tenerife North. Ryanair will besides support its bases successful Valladolid and Jerez closed during nan wintertime season. In addition, capacity reductions will beryllium implemented crossed respective location airports, including Asturias, Santander, Zaragoza, Vitoria, and various Canary Islands destinations.

The wide simplification is expected to beryllium substantial, pinch a 41% trim successful capacity astatine location airports and a 10% alteration successful nan Canary Islands, impacting astir 600,000 seats and 400,000 seats, respectively.

Dispute Over Airport Charges

The halfway rumor down these cuts revolves astir nan emergence successful airdrome charges. Aena’s committee precocious approved a 6.62% summation successful fees, group to return effect successful March 2026. These accrued fees are expected to costs airlines 68 euro cents (79 U.S. cents) per passenger. Aena justifies nan summation arsenic being successful statement pinch regulations group by Spanish authorities. However, Ryanair disputes this, arguing that nan emergence is unjustified fixed that Aena has reported grounds profits. The hose besides highlights that galore location airports successful Spain stay underutilized.

Ryanair’s CEO expressed interest that these interest hikes would disproportionately harm Spain’s already susceptible location airports. According to Ryanair, nan summation could make respective routes financially unfeasible, starring to occupation losses, reduced connectivity, and little finance successful section economies.

Impact connected Regional Airports and Local Economies

The reduced capacity successful Spain’s location airports is expected to person a far-reaching impact, not only connected nan hose manufacture but besides connected nan tourism sector. Many of these airports service cardinal destinations successful Spain that trust heavy connected low-cost carriers for illustration Ryanair for some home and world tourists. With nan simplification successful formation availability, galore travellers whitethorn request to set their plans, perchance causing inconvenience and a driblet successful tourism to these regions.

The business is particularly challenging for regions that person been seeking to build up their tourism profiles, arsenic nan cutbacks could consequence successful a nonaccomplishment of nonstop formation connections. With less routes to take from, world visitors whitethorn opt for different destinations, leaving smaller Spanish airports pinch reduced footfall and financial instability.

Growth successful Other Regions

Despite these cutbacks, Ryanair is focusing connected expanding its beingness successful different Spanish airports. Cities specified arsenic Alicante, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and Valencia are expected to spot maturation successful Ryanair’s wintertime 2025-2026 formation schedules. In fact, nan airline’s wide capacity for summertime 2025 successful Spain has grown by 3.6% compared to nan erstwhile year. This displacement successful attraction suggests Ryanair’s committedness to maintaining its beardown foothold successful Spain, but it besides highlights really definite regions are becoming much charismatic than others for some Ryanair and travellers.

What Travellers Need to Know

For those readying to alert pinch Ryanair during nan wintertime 2025-2026 season, particularly to location destinations successful Spain, it is important to beryllium alert of imaginable way cancellations. Ryanair has already warned that routes to airports for illustration Vigo, Santiago, and Tenerife North will nary longer operate, truthful travellers will request to set their plans accordingly.

Passengers affected by nan cuts should look for replacement formation options, arsenic Ryanair is redirecting its location postulation to different airports crossed Europe, peculiarly successful Italy, Morocco, and Hungary. These destinations whitethorn connection much competitory airdrome charges and greater semipermanent postulation maturation potential.

For those still readying to recreation to Spain’s celebrated cities, Ryanair’s services successful destinations for illustration Alicante, Lanzarote, and Valencia will proceed to operate, ensuring connectivity remains intact successful immoderate cardinal regions.

How This Affects Spanish Tourism

The ongoing conflict betwixt Ryanair and Aena is symptomatic of broader concerns successful Spain’s aviation and tourism sectors. Many location airports are highly reliant connected low-cost carriers, which let a greater measurement of passengers to entree areas that mightiness different beryllium difficult to reach. With rising costs and less formation options, Spain’s tourism assemblage could spot shifts successful recreation patterns, peculiarly from world visitors who are progressively looking for cost-effective and nonstop formation options.

The Way Forward

Ryanair and Aena are still astatine likelihood complete nan early of Spain’s location airports. Aena argues it tin only upgrade nan runways, terminals, and different accommodation pinch bigger fees, while Ryanair insists those higher charges will scare distant visitors and harm section economies for years. The conflict is noisy now, but it’s only getting louder.

Winter 2025-2026 is only 2 seasons away, truthful each of us–airline planners, vacation bookers, and, yes, nan recreation apps we love–need to salary attraction to immoderate caller turns successful nan feud. Ryanair is already telling clients it will move craft distant from nan affected airports, cutting capacity and visibly changing nan aerial recreation representation successful Spain. If you’re hunting for a formation vacation aliases a skis break, now is still an fantabulous clip to cheque your options and scheme ahead. The sooner you adapt, nan little disappointed you’ll be.

Image Credits: ryanair