Budget airline Ryanair isn’t happy about aviation levies that it has to pay in Europe, and has consequently made changes to its offerings across the continent
Ryanair is shaking up its offerings across major European hotspots The airline, known for its sarcastic social media presence and ultra-low priced flights, has announced it’s scrapping some of its routes due to recent tax or surcharges it would have to fork out.
In Spain, the budget airline has announced that it is slashing its Spanish summer 2025 traffic by 18 per cent with the loss of -800,000 seats, and 12 routes. In a statement sent to the Mirror, Ryanair explained that it would close its Jerez and Valladolid operations, remove one based aircraft from Santiago, and will cut traffic at five other regional airports – Vigo (-61%), Santiago (-28%), Zaragoza (-20%), Asturias (-11%) and Santander (-5%) – during this summer.
CEO Eddie Wilson said: “Excessive airport charges and lack of workable growth incentives continue to undermine Spain’s regional airports, limiting their growth and leaving vast swathes of airport’s capacity underutilised.” However, the Mirror was told the average charge to be paid by airlines to Aena for airport services as of 1 March this year will remain frozen at €10.35 per passenger. “This charge is among the lowest in Europe,” Aena, the world’s number one airport operator by passenger volume.
However, Spain isn’t the only country expected to face cuts from Ryanair. Travel and Tour World say reduce capacity due to additional charges could target several beloved destinations.
1. Italy
Ryanair confirmed last month that it will also remove one of its Rome-based aircrafts from Fiumicino (the country’s largest airport) for summer 2025. “This means no growth for Rome despite the celebrations for the Jubilee year,” the airline added, blaming the news on municipal surcharges in the main Italian airports that start on April 1, 2025.
2. Austria
Austria is also in the firing line over its €12 air traffic tax. “This exorbitant tax, coupled with Austria’s very high airport and security fees, is damaging Austria’s competitiveness as a tourist destination compared to lower cost EU countries such as Sweden, Hungary and regions of Italy, all of which are abolishing aviation tax and reducing access costs to secure traffic and tourism growth,” Ryanair said in a statement.
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3. Denmark
As we have previously reported, Ryanair has scrapped all flights to and from Aalborg, after Denmark announced new aviation taxes. The new tax, which is 50DKK (£5.57), will apply to all passengers departing from Denmark and will be paid for by airlines. This means that from next month all flights to Aalborg from London Stansted will be cancelled. However, airlines including KLM, Norwegian Air, and Scandinavian Airlines will still fly from the UK to Aalborg, but passengers will need to board a connecting flight to get there.
5. France
France’s aviation tax is set to more than double in 2025, and seems to be popular Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin. “It is a measure of fiscal and ecological justice,” she said. “The 20 per cent of the population with the highest income are responsible for more than half of the expenses devoted to air travel.”
Of course, this could trigger Ryanair into reducing routes across the country. According to Travel and Tour World, the airline has already closed its Bordeaux base last year, and has “backed out of operating flights to Paris”.
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