Ryanair will increase its seat offer in Spain by 0.5% during the 2025-2026 winter season, which is equivalent to about 100,000 additional places. So far, the airline continued with its strategy of Remove places at regional airports Spanish in response to the increase in AENA’s airport rates. This time, the movement has been the opposite, although it was expected, because the firm prefers to concentrate the fleet in the most profitable destinations.
Cuts. Ryanair will reduce its capacity in northern cities and island regions, although The global balance is positive. In addition, there has been airplane repositioning: the two devices retired from Santiago de Compostela will move to Malaga and Alicante, remaining in Spanish territory. The company seeks that its airplanes fly more hours and generate greater return per passenger, something simpler in large tourist cities. This movement adds to The 800,000 squares already eliminated Before summer in airports such as Santiago, Vigo, Tenerife Norte, Santander, Zaragoza, Asturias and Vitoria, who in some cases have meant the dismissal of a hundred employees.
Who wins and who loses. The Mediterranean will be the great beneficiary. Malaga, Alicante and Valencia will absorb the bulk of growth, with increases that could achieve Between 10% and 14% At Alicante airport, exceeding 10 million seats. The Costa Blanca Tourism Board of Tourism figure the increase in more than 4.3 million places from Alicante-Elche. This Thursday will start The presentation act of the winter operation with an event in Malaga that will be attended by Mayor Francisco de la Torre, where it is expected to know the increase in routes and frequencies from the Costa del Sol. Seville will maintain its stable offer.
The great affected. On the opposite side, Santiago will suffer a collapse Of 80%, Vigo of 73%, Asturias of 16%, Santander of 38%and Zaragoza of 45%. The Canary Islands will lose more than 400,000 places, with the total closure of operations in Tenerife North and descents in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The Balearic Islands will also notice the withdrawal, with a 6% drop in the middle of the low season. Even Madrid and Barcelona, the two great airports of the country, They will see their capacity fall by 3% and 5% respectively. The airline He has threatened In addition to reducing another million seats next summer if Aena does not reduce airport rates.
The pulse with Aena continues. Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, justifies The redistribution of the fleet through airport rates ensuring that “our personnel costs, route rates, maintenance, sales or fuel are the same in any country. The only variable costs are handling and airport rates, and if they rise in Spain and go down another place, we will go there.” Michael O’Leary, executive president of the airline, will travel to Madrid in October to address with the government the lack of incentives to regional airports and the fine of 107 million euros imposed by consumption for the collection of hand suitcases, a sanction that the airline has resorted to considering it contrary to European regulations.
The answer from Aena. Maurici Lucena, president of Aena, responded To Aena’s pressures ensuring that “he uses them because he freely wants to do it and because it is convenient. Contrary to what Ryanair’s public statements hint, Aena will never accept transforming the relationship of symbiosis into a vassalage relationship, as the airline intends, because the Spanish airport system would seriously harm.”
Despite the cuts, there is growth. Despite the threats and the announced cuts, Ryanair has requested more holes between hours than last season, a “quantitative discrepancy” highlighted by Lucena himself. The airline It is still the first in Spain with 46.7 million passengers until August, far ahead of Vueling (33.2 million) and the Iberia group (29.6 million).
Cover image | Wolfgang Weiser
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