As the budget airline’s battle with Spain’s airport operator rumbles on, Ryanair’s CEO has hinted that the low-cost carrier could further cut routes to Spain’s regional airports for winter 2026-27.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is considering further reducing capacity at Spain’s regional airports in 2026-2027, as the company’s war of words with Spain’s airport operator continues.Â
This comes after having already cut around three million seats at smaller airports since the summer of 2024, according to its CEO, Eddie Wilson, in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE.
Wilson was scathing of Aena, Spain’s airport operator, describing the airport model in Spain as “broken” and saying that besides Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, the rest of Spain’s airports are in his view “empty”.
READ ALSO: All the flight routes to Spain that Ryanair will axe by winter
Addressing the possibility of further cuts at regional bases in 2026, Wilson said: “next winter looks bad,” adding that they will “probably” cut seats again.
“It’s inevitable because they’re [Aena] not doing anything on pricing,” the CEO added, referencing the ongoing battle between the Irish airline and Aena over airport fee hikes.
“If the lowest-cost, lowest-fare, biggest airline in Europe says there’s a problem with pricing at regional airports, it’s because there’s a problem with pricing at regional airports, and that problem hasn’t been solved,” Wilson said.
This is the latest instalment in a continuing fight between Ryanair and Aena. The airline is demanding that the Spanish government — which owns 51 percent of Aena — lower airport charges at regional airports, where they have decided to reduce or eliminate operations.
The Spanish government on the other hand believes the Irish airline is employing a form of “blackmail” and has pointed out that the increase, which would amount to €0.68 per passenger, is much lower than the average 21 percent increase in Ryanair ticket prices over the past year.
These increases earned the airline €820 million in the first quarter of 2025.
Low-cost airlines are already swooping in to try and capitalise on Ryanair cutbacks in Spain.
READ ALSO: Will Ryanair’s cancelled flight routes to Spain be replaced by other airlines?
Advertisement
Nonetheless, Ryanair’s reductions at or abandonments of smaller airports around the country hasn’t meant an overall retreat from the Spanish market.
“We are committed to Spain,” Wilson told EFE. “The problem is that the government doesn’t seem to be. They are not committed to their regional airports.”
Just months after cancelling one million seats in Spain this winter, mainly at regional bases, Ryanair announced a bolstered winter schedule for Málaga airport, evidence that the airline is concentrating its efforts on traditionally touristy parts of the country.
With 83 routes, 9 of which are new, Ryanair will increase its capacity on the Costa del Sol by 7 percent this season.
Ten new Ryanair routes will also launch this winter to and from Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport.
These include flights to Bratislava (Slovakia), Linz and Salzburg (Austria), Bydgoszcz and Rzeszow (Poland), Cardiff and Aberdeen (United Kingdom), Stockholm Vasteras and Smaland (Sweden), and Lanzarote (Spain).
Advertisement
The airline will also increase frequencies on established connections to destinations such as Milan, Marrakech, Budapest, and Edinburgh.
However, Ryanair has completely cut routes to the northern region of Asturias, and earlier in the year the airline also announced the closure of its Santiago de Compostela base and the cancellation of flights to Vigo (both airports in the Galicia region) as well as cutting all flights to Tenerife North, and a reduction in capacity to Santander and Zaragoza.
READ ALSO: Ryanair focuses on touristy Spain with nine new Málaga routesÂ
