Ryanair has culled a range of flight routes around Europe as the budget airline is taking a stand against rising aviation taxes and other policies. It has also threatened to cut even more routes if taxes in those countries are raised too.
So far, certain routes to the following countries have been pulled from the airline’s operations:
- Spain
- Italy
- Denmark
- Germany
Ryanair first slammed Spain’s “excessive fees” last month and announced 800,000 seats would be scaled back this summer with 12 routes to the country cut. Ryanair operations at Jerez airport and Valladolid airport would be completely stopped.
Other popular Spanish airports will face reduced flights during the summer including Vigo, Santiago, Zaragoza, Asturias and Santander. Last month it was also announced that Ryanair would be removing one of its Rome-based aircraft from Leonardo da Vinci International Airport due to increased municipal surcharges due to be implemented in April.
German airports Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig will be cut from Ryanair’s offerings while Hamburg flights will also be reduced in the summer. This will axe a total of 22 routes from the airline’s roster.
Ryanair also announced at the end of January that it would close its two-aircraft base in Billund airport, Denmark and will be axing all routes to and from Aalborg by the end of March. This makes up 32 routes set to be cut.
The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, warned France in a press conference last week, according to The Independent: “France is already a high-tax country and if it increases already high taxes further, we will probably reduce our capacity [to and from France].”
While flights to Austria haven’t been completely axed, the airline is “changing its strategy” according to The Standard after Ryanair warned travellers going to Vienna already faced higher ticket prices this year. It will reportedly be giving preference to airports with cheaper fees like Linz and Salzburg.
On New Year’s Day, Ryanair first released a “resolutions” manifesto calling on governments across Europe to axe aviation taxes and traffic caps. It also pushed for air traffic control fees to be reduced and called for air traffic control to be fully staffed from the first wave of departures in the morning.