Ryanair has pulled routes from key regional airports in Spain, removing around 800,000 passenger seats and has called on the country's airport operator, AENA, to sell off some of its underperforming regional hubs. The budget airline said Spain's Minister of Transport has a choice, issuing a statement which reads "Minister Puente has two options: he can continue to support AENA’s failed regional airports policy or he can demand a growth plan from AENA that will attract airlines. If AENA fails to grow regional airports, it should be forced to divest itself of regional airports that are currently suffering the consequences of its inaction.
" Ryanair will end all routes to Jerez and Valladolid and reduce services to Vigo (-61%), Santiago (-28%), Zaragoza (-20%), Asturias (-11%), and Santander (-5%). This is due to the £8.70 fee per passenger charged by AENA, which was frozen for 2025 by a competition watchdog, but Ryanair's CEO has said this does not make up for previous rises and fails to incentivise routes to regional airports.
CEO Eddie Wilson said: "It can be clearly seen that AENA has not taken into account the high and uncompetitive access costs of Spanish airports, which causes regional airports to be half empty and currently underutilised by 64 per cent." The UK is the largest market for Spanish tourism, accounting for 23 per cent of the sector, which has boomed by 6.5 per cent in a year.
The Spanish airport body said: “Aena regrets that Ryanair uses spurious argument.
