Ryanair Slashes European Routes, Pivots to Morocco Amid Soaring Airport Fees

Ryanair has announced the cancellation of its connections with airports located in some of the main European destinations due to the increase in taxes, according to the Lusa press agency. The airports concerned are located in Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Estonia and Latvia. The Irish low-cost airline plans to turn to countries such as Morocco, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Albania and certain regions of Italy.

The airline intends to reduce the capacity of its operations "by more than 800,000 seats" in Germany next winter by cancelling 24 flights to nine German airports it describes as "costly", such as Berlin, Hamburg and Memmingen in Bavaria. For Spain, Ryanair recently indicated that it will "reduce its flight program for the summer of 2026" by around 1.2 million seats, a decrease of 10%. Flights to Asturias airport will be suspended in particular. This announcement comes after a reduction of one million seats to Spain for the winter of 2025, following the increase in Aena taxes.

As for France, Ryanair had already announced this summer its decision to abandon 25 routes and 750,000 seats on flights to this country during the winter. The company had added that it would cease operations at the airports of Brive and Bergerac, in the southwest of the country, as well as at Strasbourg, in the east. In Austria, a complete suspension of connections between the cities of Billund (Denmark), Santander (Spain) and Tallinn (Estonia) from Vienna is planned, in response to the "excessive airport fees" in the Austrian capital. Three of the 19 aircraft stationed in the city will be withdrawn.

For Estonia, there will be less than 110,000 seats on flights to Tallinn this winter, representing a 40% reduction. Five international routes from the Estonian capital will also be cancelled, namely Milan-Bergamo, Venice-Treviso, Rome-Ciampino (three airports in Italy), Paphos (Cyprus) and Vienna (Austria). A reduction of 160,000 seats (-20%) is planned this winter on flights to Riga, the Latvian capital, as well as the suspension of seven international routes including Aarhus (Denmark), Berlin (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), Gdansk (Poland), Gothenburg (Sweden), Memmingen (Germany) and Paris-Beauvais (France).

Regarding Lithuania, the Irish low-cost company explained that its operations in the country "will not develop" during the winter of 2025, justifying this decision by the 30% increase in taxes at the capital’s airport, Vilnius, and 7% in the tourist destination of Palanga. "While countries like Albania, Hungary, Poland, Sweden and Italy are reducing access costs to stimulate traffic [air] growth, Lithuania is unfortunately going in the opposite direction," the company said in a recent press release.