Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, has threatened that the airline could cut another million seats on flights to Spain next summer if Aena does not lower airport fees. O’Leary made this warning during an interview with the ‘Financial Times’, stating he will return to Madrid in two weeks to “probably” announce the cancellation of an additional million seats for next summer.
This marks another potential cut, adding to the 800,000 seats already removed for this summer and the million that have been cancelled for the upcoming winter season in protest against Aena’s fee increase of 6.5%.
The airline is demanding that the Spanish government— which owns 51% of Aena— reduce airport fees at regional airports, where the airline has decided to reduce or halt its operations to make them “more competitive.” The government views this strategy by Ryanair as a form of “blackmail,” stating that the 0.68 euro fee increase per passenger is negligible compared to the average 21% rise in ticket prices over the last year, during which Ryanair reported a profit of €820 million in the first quarter of this fiscal year, suggesting that their interest in lowering fees is simply to “make more money.”
Consumer Minister Pablo Bustinduy, with whom the airline has had a contentious relationship since the government department imposed a €107 million fine for “abusive” practices, stated that Ryanair’s strategy is “a campaign of intimidation, targeting, bad manners, and recently, outright blackmail against the Spanish government,” which will not “intimidate” him.
Last week, the airline announced it would be closing its base in Santiago and cancelling all flights to Vigo and Tenerife North, as well as reducing capacity in Asturias, Santander, Zaragoza, and the Canary Islands. This is in addition to cuts already made for the summer season at other regional airports, such as Jerez and Valladolid, where it has ceased operations. Should no other competing airlines take over these seats, the total reduction in air capacity in Spain could reach 16%.
