Airline will reduce the operation by 41% at regional continental spain airports
Ryanair will reduce the operation in Spain by 16% during the winter, including closing the Santiago de Compostela base and stops flying to Vigo (both in Galicia), the Irish airline announced.
Ryanair’s operation in Spain will be reduced by 16% compared to the previous winter and translates into a global decrease of one million places on flights, which add up to 800,000 eliminated in the summer season.
In the whole, the ‘Low Cost’ airline will make a cut of nearly two million places on flights in Spain in 2025, which decided to bring to destinations such as Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Albania, Hungary or Sweden.
“A tourist catastrophe” for some regions of Spain, Ryanair’s executive president Eddie Wilson said today at the Madrid presentation of changes in operation in the country after the end of summer.
The airline will reduce the operation by 41% at affected continental regional airports (less 600,000 places) and 10% in the Canary Islands (less 400,000).
Eddie Wilson justified these cuts with the rates applied by the company Aen, which manages the Spanish airports, which considered “excessive and poorly competitive.”
In this context, the company will close the base of two aircraft in Santiago de Compostela and will suspend all flights to Vigo from January 1st.
Ryanair will also stop flying to Tenerife North, in the cannaries, early in the winter of 2025.
In summer, the company had stopped flying to Valladolid and Jerez and will keep the operation closed in these two airports.
On the other hand, it will reduce the capacity in other four airports – saragoça (in 45%), Santander (38%), Asturias (16%) and Vitoria (2%).
In summer, Ryanair had already reduced offering in Vigo (less 61%), Santiago de Compostela (28%), Saragoça (20%), Asturias (11%) and Santander (5%).
In the Canaries, the cuts affect North Tenerife (where Ryanair completely closes the operation), Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
Despite the global cut and, above all, at regional airports, Ryanair intends to increase the capacity at larger airports in Spain, but the company has not revealed which dimension.
“Ryanair maintains a commitment to Spain, but we cannot justify a continuous investment in airports whose growth is blocked by excessive and unique rates,” said Ryanair’s executive president.
