Ryanair, Europe’s and Spain’s No. 1 airline, has condemned Spanish airport authority Aena’s brazen decision to increase airport charges again by a staggering +6.62% for next year, bringing charges at Spanish airports to their highest level in over a decade, despite record passenger numbers and record monopoly profits for Aena.
The airline said in a statement that the Spanish regulator (CNMC) must immediately reject this excessive, unjustified and damaging increase before the 2025/26 winter schedule is finalised in the coming weeks. “If Aena is allowed to continue increasing its already uncompetitive charges, Ryanair will have no choice but to drastically reduce the number of seats and routes it operates to regional Spain.
“The effects of these cuts will be felt most acutely at regional airports, which are already almost 70% empty due to a failed tariff structure that wastes existing infrastructure designed to support local economies. Aena’s excessive tariff increases will further undermine the commercial viability of many of these routes, as well as the competitiveness of Spanish regional airports compared to regional airports in Italy, Croatia, Albania, Sweden and Poland, where airports and regions are actively reducing access costs to improve local connectivity, traffic growth, tourism and employment.
“It is not surprising that Aena, which has tried to raise fees at every opportunity over the last five years (despite a Spanish government resolution freezing airport fees), continues to act in its own narrow interest to the detriment of air connectivity, tourism and the Spanish economy in general. What is surprising is the passivity of the Spanish government (Aena’s majority shareholder) in the face of the suffering of Spanish regional connectivity and tourism, as it has not extended the law limiting airport charges, a law that has still allowed Aena to enjoy record passenger numbers and profits. Simply extending this law would protect Spanish citizens and visitors from Aena’s repeated attempts to abuse its monopoly position.
“Without this extension, Ryanair will have to immediately review its planned capacity for winter 2025/26 in regional Spain, as many routes are now becoming commercially unviable. Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson said: “Aena’s decision yesterday only confirms what Ryanair has been saying for a long time: Aena is only interested in extracting monopoly profits from its largest airports at the expense of Spain’s regions and their local economies, which remain chronically neglected. More than 85% of Spanish traffic is concentrated in just 10 airports (out of AENA’s 46 airports in Spain).
“Aena’s excessive charges are crippling traffic, reducing connectivity, limiting visitors and causing the loss of thousands of jobs in regional Spain. Aena’s tariff policy and lack of a regional strategy are directly responsible for diverting air investment away from regional Spain to more competitive airports in other parts of Europe. Ryanair has already been forced to cut 800,000 seats in regional Spain in the summer of 2025 due to this failed tariff structure. Aena’s policy continues to make regional airports totally uncompetitive compared to EU countries such as Sweden, Hungary and Italy, which are reducing access costs to promote traffic, employment and economic growth.
“Aena’s regional airports are almost 70% empty due to this failed tariff structure, which wastes infrastructure designed to support local economies. It is inexplicable that, despite the Spanish government’s previous commitment to freeze charges, it is now allowing regional airports to fall into irrelevance while Aena extracts monopoly profits at the expense of tourism, employment and regional connectivity.
“It is clear that Aena has no interest in increasing traffic or connectivity at Spanish regional airports. Ryanair therefore calls on the Spanish regulator (CNMC) and the government to immediately reject the most excessive fare increase proposed in the last decade and extend the fare freeze to protect Spanish connectivity and competitiveness, especially at the regional level. In the absence of these measures, Ryanair will be forced to re-evaluate its schedule for winter 2025/26 in regional Spain, which will inevitably lead to capacity reductions with the consequent loss of passengers, tourism investment and jobs.”