Ryanair has announced it is cutting 1.2 million seats from its Spanish schedules for the 2026 summer season in retaliation for what the carrier calls the government’s failure to stop fee increases by airport operator Aena (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea). The move will see a complete stop to Ryanair flights to and from Asturias Airport in northern Spain.
In a statement calling the 10% cuts “regrettable,” the low-cost Irish airline (Europe’s biggest by passenger numbers) accuses state-controlled Aena of operating a monopoly and applying an illogical pricing structure to its hubs. Aena “continues to raise fees at Spain Regional Airports making them uncompetitive and harming growth,” Ryanair claims, arguing that “small underused regional airports” should not be charging the same as “busy main airports like Madrid, Barcelona, Palma and Malaga.” In response to the pricing approach, “Ryanair is switching seat capacity to these bigger Spanish airports (where passenger demand and air fares are higher),” it says.
What’s more, the statement went on, “faced with high fees at regional airports, Ryanair has moved to lower cost airports elsewhere in Morocco, Italy, Croatia, Albania, and Sweden, where governments are abolishing Enviro Taxes and lowering airport fees.”
Ryanair’s list of grievances does not stop there, however. It also blames the seat reductions on the Spanish government’s “illegal bag fines.” This latter refers to the financial penalties imposed in November 2024 by Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights and Consumption to five budget carriers (Ryanair, easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Vueling and Volotea), over their charges for hand luggage. Ryanair suffered the harshest sanction of €107.7 million, while the other firms were fined various amounts ranging between €39.2 million and €1.1 million.
A message to Minister Bustinduy 🤡 – scrap illegal bag fines in Spain‼️
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) February 11, 2025
From Madrid today, Michael O'Leary called on @pbustinduy to withdraw his illegal €179M bag fines in Spain, which are contrary to both EU law and the precedent ruling of the European Court of Justice in the… pic.twitter.com/mpm4Zeyijl
Unusually, in his remarks on the situation, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary appeared to try to strike a balance between criticism and room for hope. While he accused Spain’s consumer affairs minister Pablo Bustinduy of being “incompetent” and “in clear breach of EU law and ECJ rulings,” he also implied Ryanair’s position on regional seat capacity could change.
“While we wish to continue to grow air traffic and connectivity to regional Spain, we are prevented from doing so by the Aena’s Monopoly high airport fees and the failure of Prime Minister Sanchez and his government to restrain this overcharging airport monopoly, which they own and control,” he said, adding: “We look forward to returning to growth in regional Spain, when Aena fees are reduced, making them competitive with lower-cost airports elsewhere.”
The slash to the 2026 summer schedule follows similar Ryanair cuts to its Spanish winter schedules, after which other budget airlines appeared to rush to take up the slack, a point made by Aena’s Executive Vice President. Javier Marín has defended Spain’s aviation policies, saying the system “is very competitive, airport taxes and fees are very competitive, and, in fact, other airlines are taking over the routes this airline is leaving.”
