Ryanair reduces seating capacity in Spain during winter period by 1 million seats
Ryanair, the low-cost airline, has announced a significant reduction in seat capacity for the winter season of 2025. The airline will be cutting 1 million seats to Spain, representing a 41% decrease at Spanish regional airports and a 10% reduction in the Canary Islands.
The reason for this seat reduction is a 6.62% increase in airport charges starting in 2026, imposed by airport operator Aena. Ryanair has argued that these charges are excessive and uncompetitive, and they cannot justify investing in airports with such high fees.
In response to Ryanair's decision, Aena's CEO, Maurici Lucena, called it "self-righteousness, rudeness, and blackmail". Lucena stated that the 6.62% increase in airport charges was based on solid microeconomic principles.
Over the past few years, Ryanair has attempted to intimidate the public authorities of several countries, including Spain. The airline had previously scrapped 800,000 seats to Spain in 2025 due to excessive airport fees.
Operations at three Spanish bases, Santiago, Tenerife North, and Vigo, are set to be shut down over the coming months. This decision will affect over 10,000 employees in Spain, a workforce that Ryanair contributes to bringing one in three tourists arriving on its flights.
In response to Ryanair's move, Spanish Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz has announced she would be requesting a meeting with Ryanair's chairman. Diaz stated that the response would be to enforce labour laws and protect workers' rights.
Despite this reduction in capacity to Spain, Ryanair aims to fly at least 3% more passengers overall in the year ending on 31 March 2026. As a result, 36 direct connections with Spain and the Canary Islands will be cancelled.
At this time, there is no known public announcement from any airline explicitly stating a shift of capacities from Spain/Canaries to destinations in Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Sweden, and Hungary for the winter of 2025/26. Such strategic shifts are common among large low-cost airlines like Ryanair, easyJet, or Wizz Air, particularly in response to demand changes, local restrictions, or economic considerations.
If such an announcement is made by any of the leading low-cost airlines in the coming months, it would be a news item of European-wide interest and could be read in relevant industry media such as aero.de, airliners.de, Airways Magazine, or on the official press portals of the airlines.
For those seeking current, concrete news: - Check the press releases of the leading low-cost airlines. - Read current airline news on specialist portals. - Keep an eye on Twitter/X or LinkedIn posts of the airlines or their CEOs. - Sign up for press releases from Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air.
As of today, there is no widely known, public announcement of this specific capacity shift for the winter of 2025/26. If you have a reference to an internal or newer source, please share the link or the quote so I can conduct more targeted research!
Tip: Airlines adjust their networks throughout the year. As soon as official announcements are made, they will be reported in the media accordingly.
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