airports

Meanwhile there are Spanish airports that will not see any of your planes

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Everything indicates that this year there will be a price increase in Ryanair tickets. The company has raised its rate increase forecast to 9% for its current fiscal year, which ends in March. All this while maintaining the strategy of reducing its operations in Spanish regional airports after the fight against Aena for airport taxes. What you have announced. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has confirmed in presentation of quarterly results that banknotes will rise between 8% and 9%, exceeding the 7% that had been predicted in November. According to O’Leary, this is due to the “strength of demand” and the shortage of supply in the European market, as share the Expansion medium. The company estimates it will carry 208 million passengers this year, one million more than initially anticipated. Why are prices rising?. According to account Ryanair’s strategy is linked to Europe’s limited capacity in terms of the lack of available aircraft. In addition, the airline’s reservations have reached record levels after Christmas, all the more incentive for the company to end up raising its fares, offsetting the 7% drop last year. The situation in Spain. Ryanair maintains its pulse with Spanish regional airports, which it accuses of applying high rates that make them “non-competitive.” Last October, the company already announced its third consecutive cuts in small airports in the country, eliminating 1.2 million seats. In its strategy, Asturias will be one of the most damaged airportssince Ryanair will completely cease its operations there. Redistribution. “We have allocated Ryanair’s scarce capacity to regions and airports that cut airport charges and encourage traffic, such as Albania, Italy, Morocco, Slovakia and Sweden, withdrawing flights and routes in high-cost and non-competitive markets such as Austria, Belgium, Germany and regional Spain. The trend will continue in summer 2026,” counted O’Leary. Leader in Spain. Despite the confrontation with Aena and the cuts in small airports, Ryanair was the leader in Spain during 2025 and even expanded the advantage it already had over the rest of the competitors. There is an explanation for this: while regional airports’ operations are declining, in the rest of the large cities they have grown. From Aena hold that, beyond the argument of fees, what Ryanair does is move its planes where it is most lucrative. Company numbers. Ryanair presented quarterly results marked by an 83% drop in profit until December, weighed down by a fine of 256 million euros imposed by the Italian regulatory body. However, in the three quarters as a whole, net profits increased by 29% to reach 2,392 million euros. For the full fiscal year, the airline forecasts a net profit of between 2,130 and 2,230 million euros, which would represent an increase of 35%. What’s coming now. Ryanair expects to receive the last four aircraft of an order for 210 Boeing in February, several weeks ahead of schedule. Looking ahead to 2027, the first 15 units of a new order for 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft will arrive, more efficient and with 21% more capacity, which will allow the company to reach 216 million passengers next year. Its long-term goal is to reach 300 million travelers by 2034. In Xataka | In the middle of the ocean, 250 passengers on a plane learned that one of them was a stowaway. One shaped like a rat

The train is eating the plane in Spain for a very simple reason: airports exhaust us

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Although Renfe has given us some somewhat tortuous months in terms of its service, AVE delaysthe truth is that the train continues to be a very important means of transport in Spain, and there are many who prefer it to the plane. Factors like railway liberalization and the fierce price war Among the different railway operators they have also been especially favorable to this preference. According to Renfe data to which El País has had access82% of travelers choose the train over the plane. And this from an environmental point of view is good, since as the media reminds us, this represents an annual savings in emissions that reaches 512,926 tons of CO₂, equivalent to removing about 250,000 combustion cars from circulation for an entire year. Growth. The seven main routes, which connect Madrid with Barcelona, ​​Seville, Malaga, Valencia, Alicante, Galicia and Asturias, have experienced growth of up to 66% in the number of travelers in the last three years, according to the data provided by the railway operator. Numbers. Between September 2022 and August 2025, the Madrid-Barcelona corridor has gone from 7.5 to 8.9 million travelers. Madrid-Valencia rose from 4.4 to 5.3 million, while Madrid-Málaga jumped from 2.1 to 3.5 million, being the corridor with the most relative growth. According to account In the middle, these figures also include the users of Ouigo and Iryo, the private operators that have entered into competition after the liberalization of the sector. The three hour rule. “As soon as the train offers a competitive travel time of less than three hours, demand shifts massively to the railway instead of the plane,” explains Adrián Fernández, director of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency at Renfe, to El País. Fernández presents the case of Madrid-Barcelona, ​​since when the journey lasted seven hours, only 15% of the passengers chose the train; Now, with a two and a half hour trip, that proportion reaches 83%. Where do new travelers come from?. Just like collect In the middle, the International Union of Railways estimates that 50% of current high-speed users come from the plane, 20% abandon the car, and the remaining 30% correspond to induced trips, referring in the latter to trips that were not made before having the AVE. Savings Breakdown. The middle collect Renfe calculations based on European Commission methodologywhich state that the Madrid-Barcelona route avoids the emission of 185,856 tons of CO₂ per year. According to these data, Madrid-Seville saves 76,874 tons, and Madrid-Málaga reduces emissions by 72,121 tons. Adding the connections with Galicia, Valencia, Alicante and Asturias, the total amounts to 512,944 annual tons of CO₂. The equivalent in cars. To measure this figure, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) esteem that each car traveler emits 121 grams of CO₂ per kilometer, as points out The Country. Considering that a vehicle travels about 11,200 kilometers per year in Spain with an average occupancy of 1.5 people, the savings are equivalent to removing 252,325 cars circulating throughout the year. Challenges. Although the train is more sustainable, Cristina Arjona, Greenpeace mobility spokesperson, counted to El País that “to encourage its use even more it must also be the most competitive in price, since sometimes it is still more expensive than the plane.” “As high speed reaches new corridors, as soon as times are competitive, people decide to use the train en masse, with quotas of 80% and 90%,” account Fernandez in the middle. Now the challenge for operators is to extend this network to more territories and ensure that the offer of frequencies and prices remains attractive. In Xataka | Aragon finally solves the great bottleneck for its Pyrenean dream: joining Navarra and Catalonia by highway

There was a reason for airports to avoid solar panels, and Malaga has just dismantled it

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In our daily lives we are increasingly accustomed to seeing solar panels. on balconies either roofs. Even when we travel by car it is common to find plate-covered land either large wind turbines. However, there is one place where until now solar energy seemed out of place: airports. For years, sun reflection was an unsolved problem in the airport environment. The fear that a flash could affect a pilot on approach stopped any attempt to install solar panels. In Malaga, that fear is no longer an obstacle. In short. Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport sum for the first time self-consumption photovoltaic installations promoted by private companies. Europcar and Goldcar They were the first to take the stepwith a project developed by the Malaga engineering company Ubora Solar. As La Opinión de Málaga highlightsit is not a project promoted by Aena, but rather a direct commitment by private companies to generate their own clean energy in one of the most regulated and monitored spaces in the country. The big obstacle: glare. The main challenge of the project was not technical or economic, but rather air safety. The possibility that the solar panels generated annoying reflections or glare on pilots and controllers was a critical concern, also regulated by Aena regulations. The answer involved an exhaustive analysis of visual risk. Ubora Solar developed aeronautical glare studies following the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), taking into account everything from the actual flight trajectories to the visibility from the control tower. All of this served to precisely define the orientation and inclination of the panels within the airport complex. The results were conclusive. Luminance values ​​were well below the European threshold of 20,000 cd/m², and any possible reflection coincided with the position of the sun, being “masked by its own brightness”, a phenomenon known as sun masking. In other words: the reflection exists, but it is imperceptible and does not pose an operational risk. In other countries it was already a reality. Although solar installations already exist in airports in other countries, the case of Malaga is especially relevant due to its private nature. In the United States and in different parts of Europeairport photovoltaics has been a reality for years, always subject to strict glare and air safety studies. The difference, as various media emphasizeis that in Spain this step had not yet been taken without a direct impulse from the airport manager. Málaga thus acts as a laboratory and precedent for a model that could be replicated in other airports in the country. A success that does not blind. For years, the sun was seen as a risk at airports. In Malaga, he has become an ally. The project shows that the greatest fear —the glare— it is not fought with prohibitions, but with rigorous studies, planning and technology. Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport not only manages takeoffs and landings. It has also opened a new path for the energy transition in one of the most complex environments that exists. And it has done so without losing sight of the most important thing: safety. Image | solar ubora and Unsplash Xataka | When the December sun surpasses that of April: the luminous paradox of a vertical panel on the balcony

Using aerial balloons to smuggle tobacco is common in Eastern Europe. And then the airports have a problem

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The airport of Vilnius, Lithuania, has been forced to close its doors throughout the night from last Tuesday to Wednesday due to the massive entry of hot air balloons loaded with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus. The closure, which lasted from 11:00 p.m. until 6:30 a.m., has affected around 4,000 passengers and caused the cancellation of 30 flights. The worst thing is that It hasn’t been the first time that the airport is facing this situation. What has happened. Dozens of weather balloons used by smugglers to transport tobacco from Belarus crossed Lithuanian airspace overnight. According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, called it “the most intense raid of the year.” Incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, including Warsaw and Kaunas, while two land border crossings between the two countries were also temporarily closed for the same reason. Why do they use balloons? Smugglers take advantage of the fact that tobacco is significantly more expensive in the European Union than in Belarus. Using these hot air balloons, they send thousands of packages of illegal cigarettes across the border without having to go through customs controls. The images spread The media shows large balloons floating between the trees with cigarette packs hanging below. It’s not the first time. On October 5, just two weeks before, Vilnius airport had already had to suspend operations for hours for a similar incident. On that occasion, 25 balloons crossed Lithuanian airspace, affecting around 6,000 passengers. According to official data published this month, a total of 966 balloons entered Lithuania last year and more than 500 have already done so so far in 2025. Neighboring Poland has recorded more than 100 similar incidents this year, according to its border police. The Government’s response. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has announced the call for an urgent meeting of the National Security Committee to address the problem. “It is not normal that so many balloons cross our border and that we have to intercept them to keep them away from our strategic installations,” he declared. Ruginienė has urged authorities in Minsk to cooperate to prevent future incidents, calling on Belarus to take “a responsible approach towards these events, regardless of our political relations.” A security issue. The commander general of the Lithuanian Border Guard, Rustamas Liubajevas, confirmed that hundreds of balloons could have crossed the border last Tuesday and that four suspects have been detained. The Lithuanian authorities have been authorized to shoot down these balloons since last year. Although these incidents are directly linked to smuggling, violations of Lithuanian airspace are a particularly sensitive issue: the country is a member of NATO and the EU, and in July suspected russian drones They crossed its territory from Belarus, one of them carrying explosives. Vilnius is located just 32 kilometers from the border with Belarus, Vladimir Putin’s main ally in Europe. Cover image | State Border Guard Service and Made In Vilnius In Xataka | El Prat airport is full of ghost valets, and they are a real problem: the Mossos have already shielded the area

Ryanair has put Spanish province airports with their cuts with their cuts. Despite this, it will grow in 100,000 squares

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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 In Xataka | Granada fine from today with its new area of ​​low emissions: who can access, fines and exceptions

Ryanair has put the Spanish province airports in check. Fortunately for them, there is a thing called “capitalism”

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Spanish airports are living a tremendous snake in recent months, and the absolute protagonist is Ryanair. The Irish airline has been using smaller airports for months, such as negotiating weapon in battle against airport ratesthreatening to leave them lying if their conditions were not met. Threatened … and fulfilled, being Valladolid’s one of the most affected airports. But there Where Ryanair closedother companies have seen a chance. And, as the Minister of Transportation says: “To dead king, king on.” What’s happening. AENA is the public company that is responsible for the management of airports in Spain. A few months ago he announced that, as of March 2026, it would increase airport rates by 6.5%. This implies that the maximum entrance per traveler will go from 10.35 euros to 11.03 euros, a rise of 68 cents. The reaction Ryanair was … sound, so to speak. Through several very public profiles, including that of its controversial CEO, Michael O’LearyThe company described the increase as unjustified, stating that regional airports would be less competitive against other European destinations. In general, the defense of Ryanair is based on affirming that Aena acts as a monopoly when the benefits of travelers and regional connectivity are put. Affected. The manager justifies the climb to the need to face a Investment Plan of about 13,000 million euros with the aim of modernizing the network in the coming years before an expected increase in demand. All this led to the president of AENA and the Ministry of Transportation accused Ryanair of being blackmailing the country. Also accuses To the company to use that increase in rates as an excuse to stop operating in regional airports, moving to the “airports in which they can set higher prices in their tickets to earn more money”. In fact, a pulse can be allowed like this. Ryanair’s response? Trim a Million places Facing the Christmas campaign of this 2025 through the cessation of operations in those regional airports in which the airline was the main mode of connection with other airports. The most affectedin addition to Valladolid, Son Vigo or Santiago de Compostela, but also Tenerife Norte, Asturias, Santander, Zaragoza, Jerez or Vitoria. airport Capacity cuts for winter 2025 & 2026 Santiago Base closure (two less aircraft, 80% less capacity) sherry Closing Valladolid Closing Tenerife Norte Closing Vigo Closing Santander -38% Saragossa Closing Asturias -16% Vitoria -2% Canary Islands -10% Dead king, king. The truth is that Ryanair is one of the most powerful companies at European level, especially in these smaller airports, since its model is the one that allows connections between cities that other companies do not cover. However, his withdrawal of some Spanish airports is not something that worries one of the protagonists of this story: the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. Óscar Puente defended A few days ago, Ryanair’s march would be compensated with the arrival of other companies. The minister argued that “no company will condition airport policy with threats, underlining That “to dead king, king placed”, and it seems that those new ‘kings’ are already appearing their heads. To attack. It was the bridge itself who announced that airlines as Vueling would “immediately” cover the routes abandoned by Ryanair for this winter, ensuring that he has worked in negotiations with both vs. with other companies to fill that void left by the Irish company. Vueling will reinforce its presence in Santiago and Tenerife Norte, but it is not the only company that has seen an opportunity in this situation. Iberia Express or Wizz Air They also work to cover part of the routes operated by Ryanair. Specifically, from Independent comment which turning will increase its capacity by 15% in Santiago (reaching 578,000 seats) and 11% in Tenerife Norte (900,000 seats). Wizz Air, meanwhile, will open 40 additional routes until March 2026. Another of those who I could enter the game It is volotea, an airline that is focused on connecting small and medium cities that has already collected the Guante of Ryanair’s abandonment of French airports. Because this struggle of Ryanair against rates are also having it in parallel in France. And the train? Of course, Ryanair has put the increase in rates in the center of the debate, but there is something that has been forged in recent years: the expansion of high speed. A few weeks ago we already commented that that of Santiago and Vigo, airports in which the Irish has closed operations, are two cities to which The arrival of high speed is especially affecting. In Asturias There are still complicationsbut new sections are planned that will allow the train to fight the plane soon. And in Zaragoza not only Renfe operates: Ouigo and Iro They joined not so much. Now, where the train is not an option is in the Canary Islands, where Ryanair will reduce 400,000 places in winter, canceling 36 connections. There will be companies such as Vueling, Iberia Express or Binter who will have to demonstrate whether they can operate without travelers missing Ryanair. This next winter will be the fire test. In the end, Ryanair has been able to blackmail Aena (and other European organizations) to some extent, since if he leaves his routes, due to competition, there are other companies that are looking forward to occupying their place. Images | Ryanair, Robot8a In Xataka | In its extreme obsession with hand luggage, Ryanair has created a new and explicit product: “Backpacks to travel with Ryanair”

Europe saw the Ukraine War from home comfort. Until the war has moved to its airports

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The war in Ukraine has devoured Russia’s human and material resources at a devastating rhythm: more than 250,000 soldiers dead and about one million of total casualties, a cost higher to all its wars since 1945. This fact has conditioned Moscow, but has also enhanced a war that has turned the airspace of the rest of Europe into chaos: The hybrid war. The bleeding and the turn. Forbes counted This week that, despite that human sacrifice, Moscow has barely expanded 12% The territory under its control, at the price of losing ten men for each square mile conquered. Thus, unable to sustain the conventional war, the Kremlin has replaced the number of troops by the Drones deploymentcapable of launching more than a thousand projectiles and responsible for Up to 70% of the Ukrainian casualties. The bet is so clear that it is expected to form more drone operators What infantry soldiers From here to 2030. With this transition, Moscow has converted the swarm of unmanned aircraft into the central tool of a hybrid strategy that not only points to Ukraine, but now Also to all of Europe. Civil aviation, the first front. The European airports They have been the first to feel the effects of this war in the shadow. Drone raids forced the Temporary airport closure In Copenhagen and Oslo, while a ransomware attack paralyzed billing systems in London-Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels. What were previously isolated incidents has become a coordinated series of interruptions that show to what extent civil aviation, highly interconnected, is vulnerable to hybrid sabotage that combines low cost devices with cyber attacks. The experts They point That these episodes seek to measure the European reaction capacity, and warn that the cost of modernizing antidron systems (radars, inhibitors, lasers) is so high that many airports are not prepared to assume it immediately. The result: hundreds of delayed or canceled flights and an unprecedented exhibition of the weaknesses of an essential sector. Denmark as an epicenter. In just one week, Denmark has undergone a Succession of incursions with drones on key airports such as Aalborg or Billund and on military bases where their f-16 and F-35 fighters operate. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulen, described These operations as a hybrid attack executed by a “professional actor” and acknowledged that they could lead to activate Article 4 of NATO for the first time in the history of the country. Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, He described Copenhagen’s closure as the most serious attack suffered by Danish critical infrastructure. The government even studies legal changes to authorize civil operators of strategic facilities to demolish drones in case of threat. In parallel, political pressure has led to Call of meetings Joints in the EU to discuss the creation of a “drone wall” on the eastern borders of the continent. Europe and a challenge. The incidents In Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark have uncovered a major problem: Europe’s inability to face Cheap threats and massive like drones. The systems designed to intercept fighters or ballistic missiles are revealed ineffective against swarms of small low -cost devices, which go unnoticed to the radars or saturate the defenses. The magnitude of the Intrusion in Poland and airspace violations In Estonia They have shown that the gap is real. General stones They warn That what they need are not very expensive and scarce systems, but scalable defenses, cheap and mass produced: sensors, electronic war tools, small interceptors and short -range missiles. The proposal of A “Drones Wall” that covers borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine reflects urgency, but also the complexity of protecting against a threat in constant evolution. The conflict at home. The truth is that, for a long time, Europe contemplated the invasion of Ukraine from a distance, with the feeling that the war was fought in a foreign scenario. Today that perception It has vanishedat least in part: The hybrid war It has already closed airports In Denmarkparalyzed systems in Berlin, Brussels and London, and put at risk the safety of commercial flights. Thus, the front has moved to the tracks, to the navigation systems and the digital networks that support the daily life of millions of Europeans. If you want also, Russia has made the war cease to be a distant echo to become A tangible reality In the heavens and in the infrastructure of the continent, forcing NATO and the EU to rethink its defense in a new and most disconcerting terrain. Image | State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, monitorwar In Xataka | Russia is running out of one of its guts in war: Ukraine has destroyed the last Soviet jewel, and there are no spare parts In Xataka | Two hidden Russian soldiers wrote something unpublished to a drone. That day in Ukraine changed the rules of wars

There is only a great beneficiary at Ryanair’s departure from regional airports. One called “High Speed ​​Train”

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Ryanair threatened and fulfilled. As he turned a few months ago. The company confirmed yesterday, September 3, which removes more than one million places from regional airports. In total, its activity will be reduced by 41 % in this type of aerodromes and 10 % of its activity in the Canary Islands will also be affected. The movement has unleashed an wave of indignation among Spanish institutions that qualify the exit as blackmail or extortion. The company, meanwhile, defends itself by ensuring that the increase in Aena’s rates are incompatible with its operations in this type of airports. But what the movement leaves us is the confirmation that regional airports are less and less competitive. A good part of them have based their operations on a huge dependence on the company. And the Good train health It is making operating in them, more and more complicated. A good example is that the company will increase its operations in larger airports. The controversy As we explained yesterday, with its latest Ryanair movement it will reduce 400,000 places in the Canary Islands in winter, being the autonomous community most punished by volume. In total, 36 connections are canceled. It remains to be seen if the flights to the Canary Islands are held by other companies. A good example is the Binter expansion that in recent times it has begun to increase its routes in the connections between peninsular Spain and the islands. In addition, Ryanair has announced the closure of Santiago de Compostela and the suspension of all flights to Vigo as of January 1, 2026. It maintains the closure at the airports of Valladolid and Jerez de la Frontera. And will reduce its operations in Zaragoza (-45 %), Santander (-38 %), Asturias (-16 %) and Vitoria (-2 %). The company attacks Aena and the Government, to whom it accuses of “failing to the Spanish regions, whose airports are almost 70 % empty.” For its part, the airport manager attacks that “the communication and institutional relations policy of Ryanair is guided by Phariseism, bad education and blackmail”, while trying to “falsify reality.” All these words pick them up eldiario.es from the mouth of Maurici Lucena, president and CEO of Aena. The excuse Ryanair has used to abandon or reduce its operations at these airports is at the rise of Aena rates. Those rates are the ones guarantee basic services of airports such as cleaning or safety, to put only some examples. At the moment, there are substantial discounts than in airports with the lowest volume of passengers make them insignificant. On the contrary, where it is paid the most is in the airports of greater volume. That rate has been frozen in recent years but will rise if the CNMC approves it. From the beginning, the company’s opposition has been found. They defend that in countries such as Italy, Morocco or Croatia have been lowered to attract tourism and that, with these increases, “Spain is closing” to the same. A statement that The data denies. According to Aena, The increase is just 68 euro cents By passenger but they put the company that their rates have increased by 21% in the last year. But this is just the surface. Spain is not the only country in which Ryanair has reduced operations. The Irish have also retired more than 700,000 places from the French regional airports. And it is also not accidental that their operations to Morocco travel almost empty. For a long time, the company has exploited institutional advertising to maintain open paths that would not be profitable without these substantial pluses. In fact, that Ryanair trip to Daklha is only explained since The interest that Morocco has in exploiting that areanear the Sahara, as a holiday destination. Ryanair as a symptom And the train as a disease that hurts regional airports. To all of the above we must add the loss in competitiveness of many of the airports of which Ryanair leaves. The company has closed operations in Santiago and reduces its connections in Vigo. Casually there are two cities to which The arrival of high speed is especially affecting. Until not so long ago, the only way to travel quickly between Madrid and Galicia was by plane. Now, the High speed It allows you to reach the center of the capital more or less the same time as you travel by plane. And without the discomforts of this means of transport. In Asturiashigh speed is not yet working in full performance but the opening of new sections (and others on the horizon)place the region in a position where the train, again, will compete with the plane for faster connections. It will remain faster to travel by plane but its connection with Madrid is already competitive by train. What to say about Zaragoza where in recent years Renfe has joined Ouigo and Iroyo. The corridor maintains a hard competition And although the tickets are not the cheapest on the market, the volume of trains is very high and the latest connections already allow Zaragoza to be linked with Galicia in four hours (making transford in Madrid). In addition, the possibilities to get to Seville or Malaga are multiple with the aforementioned Renfe rivals. Eliminate air connections with the main Spanish cities should result in greater use of this means of transport. And from Aena they are clear that reality is “more prosaic.” “Ryanair moves her planes to airports where can set higher prices In their plane tickets and earn more money, such as Great Spanish airports“, despite being” substantially higher, “they insisted on words collected by RTVE. In Santander, where connections with Madrid are not so advanced, four international destinations have been withdrawn (Rome, Milan, Vienna and Paris) but the flights to Valencia and Malaga are maintained. In Santiago, however, connections with other Spanish cities die. And in Vigo he retires from the line he had with London. Casually when the contract ends Between the City Council and the company … Read more

One million less places this winter at provincial airports

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The pulse between the government and Ryanair continues to climb. After a summer in which the company had withdrawn 800,000 places from our country, it now ensures that it will withdraw a million seats available this winter. The official reason: Aena’s rates. THE OFFICIAL: THE FINE OF CONSUMPTION TO THE COMPANY. One million less. That is what Eddie Wilson, CEO of the airline, has confirmed to Europa Press. The company will eliminate a million places available during the next winter season. The definitive announcement should occur Next Wednesday, September 3. In his interview, Wilson says that the movement is because they will “invest where we can obtain a return” since, in his opinion, the government is allowing regional infrastructure “to deteriorate and underminate.” Because? The official reason that Ryanair wields is the increase in the airport rates charged by Aena. The company, which manages these spaces and provides services such as safety, cleaning and other logistics -related activities, will raise prices next March. The company wants the new rate increases by 6.5% With a maximum of 11.03 euros per passenger after the price has almost frozen a decade. This only increased (although by 4.09%) in 2024 alleging that the Ukraine War had hit its accounts. At the moment, competition has to confirm whether this increase in rates may or may not be carried out. And, despite everything, it is something that will be applied from next March but Ryanair has already repeatedly threatened With the reduction of the offer if this happened. What does Aena say? The company ensures that not all sites pay the same for the service they offer and have stressed on several occasions that their work is essential for the operation of the airport itself. Payment at Aena’s rates includesamong other services: Aena’s staff Air navigation services (such as communications or meteorological reports) Security services MAINTENANCE AND CLEANING SERVICES Attention to people with reduced mobility In addition, the company indicates that they exist Incentives so that airlines pay less where airports accumulate less offer. For example, the discount in the passenger rate with reduced mobility is 100%. In regional airports that have not recovered prepandymia traffic, the discount is 70%. And there are additional discounts for passengers who make connections or fly to the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. There is something else. It is not only a matter of rates. Ryanair and the government also maintain a war open for the issue of hand luggage. Consumption fined the company (109 million euros)along with other airlines, because it considers that the size of the suitcase that you can transport for free is excessively small. Europe, however, seems to give the reason to the company. At the moment, the litigation continues. Last June 26, The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid suspended in a precautionary way it and from Ryanair say they have “absolute confidence that The mules will be canceled“For European justice. There is no confirmation of the latter but the truth is that The European Parliament and The European Commissionon their way to reform the regulations that affect travelers, they seem to align with Ryanair. If everything goes ahead, they should define some Minimum dimensions for this backpack/suitcase But these are aligned with those offered by the Irish company that also He has already made his own gesture of goodwill. Those indicated. Regional airports will be those that undergo the changes in Ryanair’s strategy. During the summer season we are living, the company It has already eliminated 800,000 seats from seven airports. In Jerez de la Frontera and Valladolid they have stopped operating. In Vigo, Santander, Santiago and Zaragoza and Asturias have reduced their operations to a greater or lesser extent. This frightened has directly impacted the number of flights made in these airfields. Between April and July (first four months of the summer season) they traveled 240,000 passengers less that in the same period of 2024. It remains to be seen the impact at the end of the summer season but airports such as Valladolid anda have been practically deserted. Photo | Markus Winkler In Xataka | The great secret of Ryanair’s success is that he does not earn money to fly: he does so squeezing you in everything else

Ryanair is abandoning small airports in France. There is an unexpected beneficiary: a Spanish airline

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France is the queen of world tourism. Spain is close, but the neighboring country moved In 2024 almost 90 million visitors. A good part of them depend on the plane to arrive, and the problem is that they will soon pay more money to leave. The reason? A “solidarity tax”. And Ryanair has not been funny. So little that will leave some routes in winter. On the other side of the door, ready to collect the witness, was a Spanish airline. Volotea. Taxes. The trigger is the TSBA. This is the abbreviation of ‘Taxe de Solidarité Sur Les Billets d’Avion’, a tax applied in France to the tickets. It is the French authorities that set the amount of tax with the aim of financing international aid programs or to promote ecological measures. A few months ago, that tax experienced an increase of 180% and, although It depends on the flightdistance and plane, in a Economic flight Within France or Europe, the rate went from 2.66 euros to 9.5 euros. Other countries have other rates and in Spain, for example, there is one that applies to the use of infrastructure, security, shipping and other services that will rise about 68 cents per passenger as of March 1, 2026. It is a 6.5%rise, much lower than French. But well, as we say, Italy, Germany or Netherlands also have their rates. Leave. Ryanair comes into play here. The airline, the largest in Europe by fleet, considers that they are excessive and threatened to state that the increase will make many routes unfeasible. In a nutshell: trips to regional airports to small and medium -sized cities will not be so profitable by reducing the margins of these Airlines ‘Low Cost’ and, therefore, it would cease to make sense to keep them. And so it has been. As we read in Radar TravelRyanair will completely retire from Strasbourg, Brive-La-Gaillarde and Bergerac airports from this winter. In total, it will cut 25 routes and 750,000 seats on those dates, reducing its operations in France by 13%. Proper names. The consequences are devastating for the affected cities: Brive loses routes such as London-Stansted. Strasbourg loses links with Porto and Agadir. Bergerac will lose 33% of the activity, which can even touch the airport. They are the most affected, but other larger airports such as those of Toulouse, Marseille or Beauvais in Paris will also have activity cuts. “Unless the government eliminates this unfair air tax, Ryanair’s capacity and investment in France will inevitably redirect to more competitive European markets such as Sweden, Hungary or part of Italy, where governments are eliminating air taxes to stimulate traffic, tourism, employment and economic recovery,” Comment The CCO of Ryanair, Jason McGuinness. Volotea. This decision has resonated at the Volotea offices, a low -cost Spanish airline that bases its business on connecting small and medium -sized cities in Europe. They are those that do not usually cover the big companies, with 420 Routes in 2025reaching up to 100 cities in 18 European countries. Two names that we have already commented and that covers volotea are those of Marseille and Toulouse. And, how we read in Hosteltur And that Volotea itself collects in its press section, the withdrawal of Ryanair leaves room for the Spanish to stay with the connections of Strasbourg with Agadir (Morocco) and Porto, with the intention of creating 70 jobs to operate. “I don’t want money”. Thus, from this new pulse of Ryanair to the authorities of a country, the Spanish company benefits. And it is a sum and continues in a particular battle that Ryanair undertakes when the margins are at stake, such as when the controversial CEO of the company, Michael O’Learyconfirmed that aspires that passengers fly without suitcaseseven when of the 13,400 million euros that entered 2024, 4,299 million come from Extras how to fly with a cabin suitcase or choose a seat. Images | CJP24 In Xataka | The great secret of Ryanair’s success is that he does not earn money to fly: he does so squeezing you in everything else

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