Launched out of Dublin in the 1980s and eventually expanding to become the largest airline in Europe by total passengers carried, Ryanair (RYAOF) is often the first association with the type of low-cost airline model that works particularly well on routes between nearby European cities: offering a base fare that in certain cases can be as low as €19.99 and then making up for the difference through add-ons such as baggage, seat selection and in-flight food or WiFi.
According to numbers released by Ryanair, the airline carried over 200 million passengers in 2024 and currently serves over 240 destinations across Europe and North Africa — some of which, due to demand, are proving more profitable than others.
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Ryanair to cut 10% of its flights to popular holiday destinations
Serving 18 cities in Spain at the start of 2025, Ryanair just revealed that it will cut flights to the country by over one million seats — largely due to the high airport fees introduced by Spanish airport network operator AENA.
The budget airline will exit the market of Santiago, a northwestern city in the province of Galicia, entirely while also cutting flights from Tenerife North, Jerez and Vigo Airports by January 2026. Other cities that will see significant route reductions include Santander, Santiago del Monte in the Asturias and Zaragoza.
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The total winter capacity will be reduced by 10% while the axing of 400,000 seats in the Canary Islands is a 41% reduction in service to the holiday destination particularly popular among Europeans from nearby countries.
“The decision by AENA and its shareholders [it is partially state-owned] to increase already uncompetitive airport charges by 6.62% next year is the latest evidence that the monopolistic airport operator has no interest in developing traffic at Spain’s regional airports, and simply wants to focus on making record profits from the country’s main airports,” Eddie Wilson, who heads Ryanair’s DAC branch, said in a press release.
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Wanted to fly to Spain? Here is what Ryanair’s route cuts mean for you
Wilson added that aircraft that had previously been slated to run routes to Spain will instead be redirected to flights in Italy, Morocco, Croatia and Sweden.
Any currently-available flights to Tenerife North and Santiago fights will stop running by January 1 while the Valladolid and Juarez airports have already been closed for several months.
The 6.6% increase in costs for flying into a Spanish airport is the highest such fee hike introduced in years — as a result, the airline is prioritizing routes to large cities like Madrid and Barcelona that can generate the most traffic and cutting those to smaller and less popular destinations that are of particular interest to a more niche traveler.
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Many also turned to Ryanair to get them to more remote parts of Spain that would otherwise be more expensive to reach by train or private car.
“These cuts will further harm Spain’s already vulnerable regional airports and will inevitably lead to a loss of investment, connectivity, tourism and employment in regional Spain, as many routes will become economically unviable,” Ryanair said further in a press release.
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