Ryanair cuts 1,2 million seats from Regional Spain for Summer 2026

International

Airline ends all Asturias flights, citing Aena’s monopoly fee hikes and “illegal” bag fines imposed by Spanish Minister

Ryanair, Spain’s No. 1 airline, announced today that it will cut 1.2 million seats (-10%) from its Summer 2026 schedule across Regional Spain and cease all operations to and from Asturias Airport. The airline said the decision follows continued fee increases by state-controlled airport operator Aena and the Spanish Government’s failure to act to stop them.

The move comes after Ryanair already removed 1 million seats from its Winter 2025 schedule, blaming both the government’s inaction on Aena’s monopoly pricing and its failure to repeal what Ryanair calls “Minister Bustinduy’s illegal bag fines”, which the airline argues violate EU law.

Aena’s monopoly policies under fire

Ryanair accuses Aena – whose majority shareholder is the Spanish Government – of running a monopolistic pricing system that forces small, underused regional airports to charge the same fees as major hubs like Madrid, Barcelona, Palma, or Málaga. This, the airline says, has made regional airports uncompetitive and unattractive for investment.

As a result, Ryanair is shifting capacity to larger Spanish airports with higher demand and fares, and to lower-cost airports in Morocco, Italy, Croatia, Albania, Sweden, and Hungary, where governments are abolishing environmental taxes and reducing airport fees to stimulate growth.

“Aena and its major shareholder, the Spanish Government, continue to harm regional traffic growth, tourism and jobs in Spain through high airport fees and unjustified price increases,”

said Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary.

“Instead of lowering fees at underused regional airports, Aena plans to raise them by 7% – the highest increase in over a decade.”

Clash with Consumer Minister Bustinduy

O’Leary also launched a sharp attack on Consumer Minister Pablo Bustinduy, accusing him of illegally interfering in airline pricing by imposing fines for charging carry-on bag fees – a practice upheld by the European Court of Justice (Vueling Case, 2014) as legal under EU law, provided passengers are allowed to carry a small personal item free of charge.

Despite earlier promises, Prime Minister Sánchez has taken no action for two years to reverse these fines. Meanwhile, Ryanair says, the Minister has failed to tackle real consumer harm, such as overcharging by Spanish online travel agencies (OTAs).

“Minister Bustinduy is not only incompetent – his bag fines are a clear breach of EU law,” said O’Leary.

“If Prime Minister Sánchez respects EU law, he should dismiss Bustinduy and immediately cancel these illegal fines.”

Ignored growth proposals

Ryanair stated that it had submitted two detailed growth plans to Aena and the Spanish Government – including for airports now being closed – which could have increased passenger traffic by 40% by 2030, reaching 77 million passengers per year. Both proposals, however, were ignored.

Ryanair remains a major investor in Spain

Despite the dispute, Ryanair reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Spain, highlighting its two new maintenance facilities in Madrid and Seville and the upcoming Airline Training Centre in Madrid.

“We want to continue growing traffic and connectivity in Regional Spain,” O’Leary concluded.

“But that will only be possible once Aena’s monopoly fees are reduced and made competitive with lower-cost airports in countries such as Morocco, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, and Sweden – nations that are abolishing aviation taxes and lowering airport fees to boost their economies and tourism.”