Ryanair seemed to have condemned Santiago airport with its departure. Solution: flights to New York
The year 2025 was marked by the withdrawal of Ryanair aircraft from Spanish regional airports. The company, complaining about the supposedly excessive rates charged by Aena, eliminated routes and reduced frequencies. The result has been a huge decline at some of these airports. One of them is Santiago de Compostela. But the Galicians are already looking beyond the Atlantic. The withdrawal. A few months ago we said that Galicia is the Autonomous Community that has lost the most passengers since Ryanair reduced frequencies and canceled routes at Spanish regional airports. During the first quarter of the year, only the A Coruña airport grew within the region. Activity in Vigo fell slightly, with 3.4% fewer passengers. But it was the march from Santiago de Compostela that did the most damage. Compared to two years ago, the company’s activity is 80% lower and passenger volume has plummeted. In the first quarter, Aena data They say traffic was down by almost 25%. It is an important figure but it is serious because last year it already fell another 14% in that same period. And the decline has been consolidated in the first half of the year, sinking its activity by 40%, they report in Preferential. a nuance. It must be taken into account that in the first half of the year, Aena has been carrying out improvement work on the asphalt of the runways at the Santiago de Compostela airport, so activity has been stopped for just over a month on alternate days from January to May. An unexpected solution. The curious thing is that the drop in traffic has eased in recent months. The connections that Ryanair used at this airport maintained routes between Seville and Valencia with Galicia. A solution that, despite the improvement in rail trafficit’s still much faster. But they explain in The Spanish that from Santiago de Compostela they hope to alleviate part of the fall with two new connections. One of them to Amsterdam, the other to New York/Newark airport. And it is that United Airlines already operates a line with three weekly frequencies to connect the two sides of the Atlantic. Beyond Spain. Since Ryanair turned its back on the airport, the number of international destinations has been growing. The first city with a direct connection to join this new stage was Marrakech, they explain in The Galician Post. The offer is expanded with Amsterdam or Cork, in Ireland. All of these routes are operated on alternate days but enhance the international image of the airport for routes that, previously, had to go to other autonomous communities. Covering gaps. Another piece of good news for Santiago de Compostela is the connection with Jerez thanks to Vueling. At least during the summer, activity has been increasing in both national destinations (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Barcelona or Bilbao) and international destinations (London, Paris or Dublin). Those gaps that Ryanair has been leaving are being absorbed, at least partially with an increase in frequencies, by rival companies. And the Irish company has lost ground to Vueling and Wizz Air in recent times. Although they maintain almost record numbers, its market share has sufferedagainst these latter companies. Photo | Nastya Dulhiier and Trevor Hayes In Xataka | The new EU border system is leaving people without flights. Ryanair has a solution: close check-in early