Ryanair, the Irish budget airline, announced on Thursday that it would reduce flights at seven regional airports throughout Spain this summer because of what it calls “excessive fees”, levied by Aena, the state-controlled airport operator.
The carrier said in a press release that it would reduce capacity by 18% on 12 routes and eliminate 800,000 seats, compared to the previous summer.
Ryanair has complained about Aena’s airport fees for several years, despite the fact that the fee was frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, the competition watchdog blocked an increase planned for 2025.
Aena’s average fee of 10.35 Euros ($10.66) per passenger is “one of Europe’s lowest”.
The operator stated that the data on Ryanair flight programming for this Summer at its airports suggests more seats are available than last summer when the airline increased its activity at Spanish Airports by 8.7 percent.
Aena also said that it “condemns Ryanair for using false arguments… to confuse the public and put pressure on institutions”.
Ryanair announced that it would cease operating in the cities Jerez and Valladolid, and reduce the number flights to and from Vigo and Santiago de Compostela.
The airline, which is the largest airline in Spain by passengers, announced that it would redeploy aircraft and capacity to countries such as Italy and Sweden, Croatia, Hungary, and Morocco “where governments encourage development,” it said.
Aena’s Spanish airports saw more than 309,000,000 passengers in 2024. This was a record high as the country welcomed a record number foreign tourists. The Spanish authorities expect that the tourism boom will continue this year.
