Ryanair issues Spain travel threat and tells passengers it’s ‘significant’

Ryanair, which is rivalled by Easyjet, TUI, Jet2, has threatened cuts to Spain in the European Union as a row with the operator rages on.

Ryanair has threatened cuts to its services to Spain. Ryanair, which is rivalled by Easyjet, TUI, Jet2, has threatened cuts to Spain in the European Union as a row with the operator rages on.

The Ryanair CEO announced the airline will cut flights to certain airports this winter. The CEO of the budget airline, Michael O’Leary, has warned spoke out after Ryanair cut 12 routes this summer.

Speaking to The Local, Mr O’Leary – who is in charge of the Irish low-cost carrier – said: “There will be significant cuts in Spain,” adding: “Some regional airports will close this winter.” O’Leary claims the operator will “waste” money on “building facilities that airlines do not want or need as a way to increase fares.”

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He added: “We do need investment in Barcelona and Madrid but not for additional runways.” Ryanair, who carried 200 million passengers across Europe last year, previously said they were not looking for “subsidies or special treatment”.

AENA’s president, Maurici Lucena, previously told shareholders: “Changing fares on a whim by Aena or due to spurious pressure from an airline would be a serious illegality.”

Aena has announced that it is finalising its proposed fare review for 2026, with a 6.5 per cent increase. In 2024, Aena already applied a 4.09 per cent increase to offset energy cost overruns resulting from the war in Ukraine, with a two-year delay in passing them on to tariffs.

With a forecast of 320 million passengers for 2025 – and a growing trend in 2026 – the fare increase could mean additional revenue of €218 million for Aena’s regulated activity, which in 2024 reached a turnover of €3.19 billion (out of a total of €5.827 billion).

Speaking previously, Ryanair said it would cease operations at Jerez airport in southern Spain and Valladolid airport further north and remove one aircraft based in Santiago.

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said at the time that the airline increased its capacity in Spain to boost tourism and employment following the government’s commitment to recovery post-Covid.

“However, Aena persists with unjustified rate increases and refuses to implement effective incentive systems to support Spain’s regional growth, prioritising foreign investment in airports in the Caribbean, the UK and America”, he said.