usatoday24
This summer, Ryanair will offer 800,000 places less in Spanish airports. It is the announcement that the company made last January as a counterweight measure to what it considers abusive Aena. Now, the company threatens the government again with withdrawing journeys from its less busy lines.
800,000 seats. They announced him last January and the plan is already being carried out. Ryanair will offer 800,000 seats less this summer with the elimination of routes within Spain or the reduction of some of the existing ones.
In its statement, the company indicated that the reason for this reduction in the offered journeys were “the excessive rates and the lack of effectiveness of the ‘incentive plans’ of the AENA monopolistic airport operator, which are completely ineffective to support the growth policy of the growth of regional airports.”
The affected airports. In its statement, Ryanair specified which airports are those that would suffer a reduction in the offered routes and in which would completely close their operations:
- Jerez: Closing
- Valladolid: Closing
- Vigo: 61% less journeys
- Santiago 28% less journeys
- Zaragoza: 20% less journeys
- Asturias: 11% less journeys
- Santander: 5% less journeys
Where it hurts: Ryanair knows the force it has In these airports and, therefore, it has been their pressure measure against the rates that Aena charges in them. In Valladolid, for example, the number of trips has been drastically reduced and the company’s departure is dismissal.
Valladolid is just an example of the fall in international operations caused by Ryanair’s departure. In Santander, for example, his departure causes that only the Canary Islands, Madrid and Barcelona can fly. International trips will be injured in death. Jerez aspired to recover the number of travelers before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2025 but Ryanair’s march It should prevent this from happening.
What is paid. Ryanair is aware of the fragility of these routes. Their volume is low, so, they say, they prefer to reorganize these planes and send them to routes that have been growing. In fact, if the company had been operating in these places, it is because there were many facilities by Aena (which Ryanair does not consider enough) and for the interest of regional governments.
Airlines charged rates have a cost of 10.35 euros per passenger and are used to guarantee basic services such as cleaning or safety at airports. From Aena they insist that They are “of the lowest in Europe”although in 2021 a freezing was announced until 2026 but in 2024 they rose 4.9%. At the end of last year, CNMC frozen prices again by 2025.
Yes, but bonus. However, in airports with less passenger volume, Aena’s fees have multiple bonuses in order to attract a greater number of airlines, to the point that the company can pay only two euros per passenger, according to the AENA last proposal.
But, in addition, there is another reason why companies maintain flights in these airports: undercover subsidies. In eldiario.es They explain how regional governments deliver under advertising contracts. So, The Cantabria government delivered 18 million euros Ryanair last summer and Vigo disbursed 625,000 euros to guarantee the Vigo-London route For three years.
“Terminal Decadence”. With these words, Eddie Wilson, CEO of the company, has described, which in his opinion is getting the government with regional airports. Words have expressed them in an interview to electionomista.es and in it he has threatened to get more flights from Spain if the course of policies in relation to rates is not changed.
“There will be more cuts in the winter of 2025, and even more in the summer of 2026, because it makes no sense to continue investing in deficit operations. The rational decision is to move the traffic where the access costs are falling, not increasing, so we will continue to do so little by little. We have no plans to invest in regional airports because its price structure is broken,” says Wilson in his interview.
Without specifying what these cuts would be, Wilson points out that “regional airports are underutilized by 70%, so something does not work. Or people do not want to go to the regions, or airlines do not want to put airplanes there.”
More tensions. From Aena, he collects the digital medium, ignores Ryanair’s threats and emphasize that “when Ryanair recovers their presence, we will be institutionally receiving them with open arms”, in the words of its President Maurici Lucena. And emphasize that current policies “allow deficit airports to remain open in optimal conditions without appealing Spanish taxpayers.”
At the same time, from Vigo they have sanctioned the company with 17,414 euros of fine for unilaterally reducing the flights scheduled last summer. The company has resorted to but Vigo’s City Council has rejected its writing. In addition, Vigo understands that he has breached the aforementioned contract of advertising when considering that the company has unilaterally broken it, so a sanctioning file for this reason is also underway.
And it is not the last controversy that the company has starred in recent weeks. Although the decision aimed to apply this summer, Ryanair has announced that next winter will apply a zero paper policy with which he aspires to bind passengers To use only digital shipping cards and use your mobile phone.
Photo | Nejc Soklič
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings