Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Monday, January 20, 2025, 13 :03This page was last updated at 13:11h.
Ryanair, Ireland’s budget airline, announced today that it would drop 12 routes into Spain. That is 800,000. The carrier will continue to protest the “excessive charges” of Spanish airport operator Aena. Low-cost airline Ryanair will also cease operations at Jerez Airport and Valladolid Airport, citing ineffective airport incentives.
Ryanair has decided to withdraw one plane from Santiago de Compostela. They will also reduce the air traffic at Vigo, Santiago, Zaragoza and Asturias. It accuses Aena, a Spanish airline, of “monopoly”. Although this isn’t the first time the airline has made such a claim the carrier is now intensifying their protest.
Aena, the city council of Jerez said following the announcement that it “doesn’t have the capability to reduce taxes”. The council stated that it was “not good news” that Ryanair would cease operations at Jerez Airport in the summer of next year. Aena, the airport operator, must be consulted and the city must continue to work to recover other routes.
Aena called Ryanair’s claims “spurious”, and said that its demands for a reduction of airport taxes could be in violation of the law. Aena regretted that Ryanair used spurious arguments which did not correspond with the reality of the airport rates in Spain, to confuse the public. They also shamelessly put pressure onto national and regional institutions.
Aena’s average fare for airlines is 10.35 euros per passenger. This is “the lowest rate in Europe”, according to the operator. Ryanair, meanwhile, increased its business by 8.75% with the same rate in 2024.
The operator has also stated that the data for the summer of 2025 will show an increase in Ryanair’s seat capacity overall in Spain compared to summer 2018. This is despite some reductions at regional airports. Eddie Wilson, the carrier’s chief operating officer, noted that there would be an increase of 1,5 million seats next summer despite a 18% reduction in its offer for smaller airports.
Aena noted that regional airports are eligible for commercial incentives, which can reduce fees to as little as two euros per passenger. The operator claimed that Ryanair’s decision to reduce its operations in regional areas, while increasing at tourist airports, was a result of a commercial choice and not a reaction to airport fees.
