Company complains about high airport taxes. Government and ANA maintain that these have dropped and that “recent conversations” were “aimed at increasing, not reducing” the supply of flights.
The Government stated “surprise” with arguments from Ryanair about the end of operations in the Azores, remembering that the rate for this route is the lowest in Europe and that the company received tens of millions of euros in incentives.
This Thursday, the news arrived suddenly: the Ryanair announced that will cancel all flights to and from the Portuguese Azores archipelagofrom March 29, 2026. To blame? The high airport fees “defined by the French airport monopoly ANA/Vinci Airports”, but also the “inaction of the Portuguese Government, which increased air traffic control fees by more than 120% after the pandemic and introduced a travel fee of 2 euros, at a time when other European Union (EU) states are abolishing travel fees to guarantee the growth of capacity, which is scarce”, maintains the company.
In a written response to Lusa, an official source from the Ministry of Infrastructure stated that, following Ryanair’s statement, they cannot “help but express surprise at the statements made by the airline”. The ministry led by Miguel Pinto Luz countered that “the route fee applied to the Azores is the lowest in Europe and that the terminal fee is among the lowest”.
According to the same source, “air navigation fees, charged by NAV and which include the route and terminal fees, are calculated in accordance with a mechanism defined by EUROCONTROL, common to all Member States, and result directly from operational costs and, in general, from the volume of traffic”.
The guardianship added that “the terminal fee has been on a downward trend since 2023, going from approximately 180 euros to the current 163 euros”.
Regarding the fees charged by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, the Government highlighted that “the proposal for regulated fees for 2026 does not foresee any increase compared to 2025, remaining at 8.14 euros per passenger since 2024, which places Portugal among the countries with the most competitive airport fees in Europe”.
ANA was also surprised by the news: “recent conversations” were “oriented towards increasing, not reducing” the supply of flights to Ponta Delgada, an official source said this Friday.
The group said that “the airport taxes in force in the Azores, the lowest in the network” remained unchanged in 2025, “with ANA not proposing any increase for 2026”.
According to the concessionaire, “this cost reduction in real terms (that is, removing the effect of inflation) cannot justify the company’s change of position.”.
ANA also said that it maintains an open dialogue with Ryanair “to identify, in addition to the company’s known communication positioning, what the new contextual elements may have been”.
Furthermore, the company “maintains close collaboration with the Regional Government of the Azores and tourism entities to ensure the best air connectivity” to and from the region, “with Ryanair and other operators”.
The group recalls that the routes operated by Ryanair, between Ponta Delgada, Lisbon and Porto are also operated by SATA and TAP.
