Ryanair Charleroi planes withdrawal impacts Moroccan travelers

Ryanair is taking action in Belgium. The Irish low-cost airline announces the elimination of two million seats from its programs departing from Charleroi and Brussels-Zaventem. The reductions will affect the winter season 2026-2027, then summer 2027.

On Bladi.net : Ryanair cuts Belgium-Morocco flights winter 2026-2027

Five planes will notably be withdrawn from the Charleroi base. This decision will mechanically reduce the number of flights Ryanair can offer from the Walloon airport, which has become over the years a major gateway to Morocco for Moroccans residing in Belgium and in neighboring countries.

In its official statement, the airline gives no precise list of destinations that will lose flights. It is therefore not yet possible to confirm which routes to Morocco will be eliminated or reduced.

Charleroi at the heart of the battle

Ryanair justifies this pullback by the new increase in the federal tax on airline tickets. From January 1, 2027, it will rise from 5 to 7 euros for international flights between 500 and 3,500 kilometers. The Belgian government initially considered raising it to 10 euros, before revising its plan downward.

The airline presents this 7-euro tax as a 250% increase since 2025, when the levy was still 2 euros. The increase from 5 to 7 euros decided for 2027 alone represents a 40% rise.

For Ryanair’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, the compromise found by the Belgian government changes nothing. He believes Belgium is becoming less competitive at a time when Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Albania, and certain Italian regions are reducing or eliminating their air taxes to attract more airlines.

"We warned Prime Minister De Wever that increasing the air tax in Belgium would lead to traffic reductions, but he did not listen," says Eddie Wilson. The five planes withdrawn from Charleroi will be redeployed to countries considered more attractive by the airline.

On Bladi.net : Good news for Moroccans in Belgium

Ryanair is thus transforming its flight program into a pressure tool against the Belgian government. But the battle between the airline and the executive is likely to be felt most by travelers. In Charleroi, MREs will now have to wait for detailed publication of programs to know if their connections to Morocco will be directly affected.