Ryanair has axed one million seats to and from Spain this winter.
The budget airline has blamed the move on Spanish airport operator AENA and its decision to increase the charges it levies on airlines.
Ryanair said it had cut around 600,000 seats to and from the Spanish mainland and around 400,000 seats to and from the Canary Islands.
It has also shut its two-aircraft base in Santiago, in northwest Spain, and suspended all flights to Vigo and Tenerife North this winter as well.
Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson called the decision by AENA to increase airport charges by 6.62% “excessive” and suggested it showed the operator “simply wants to focus on making record profits”.
“This excessive increase, the highest in over a decade, means that most of Ryanair’s winter 2025 capacity in regional Spain will be moved out of Spain to more efficient airports eager to develop traffic, particularly those in Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Sweden and Hungary,” he said.
In response to Ryanair’s claims, AENA told Money that the difference between the airline’s “operational excellence and dishonesty of its communications policy” was “striking”.
“It is truly a pity that Ryanair’s communications and institutional relations policy appears to be governed by hypocrisy, rudeness and blackmail,” it added.
We asked Ryanair if they would like to comment on AENA’s response. While it didn’t have a specific reply to the quotes above, it has previously issued a statement on comments by AENA’s chairman Maurici Lucena on the topic.
Wilson said AENA was increasing airport fees and “slagging off its main customers” instead of competing with other EU countries.
