Ryanair’s battle with Aena over airport taxes is far from over. Last September, the Irish airline announced a new reduction of 1.2 million seats (it is already adding three million in less than a year) to airports. … Regionally during the next summer season, but the company does not rule out reviewing that number and increasing its size. “It is possible that there will be further reductions, if prices also fall at other airports in Europe,” said the CEO Ryanair DAC (airline company), Eddie Wilsonin an interview with this newspaper.
“This will get worse as other European airports increasingly compete for traffic at a time when airlines are facing capacity issues in Europe. This problem could be solved overnight if Aena reduced prices at regional airports to encourage not just Ryanair, but any airline, to increase capacity,” warns Wilson.
Regarding the distribution of seats that will be reduced next summer by airport, the airline’s director confirms that “everything is ready” (although the number of deletions for each airport has not yet been announced) and indicates that they have already transferred the pilots and the majority of cabin crew affected by the closure of the base in Santiago. The two planes taken from the Galician capital will remain in Spain and will be directed there Malaga and Alicante “We will continue to grow with two additional aircraft at each of these bases.”
But Ryanair is also already working on another cut at Aena’s low-traffic airports for the upcoming winter season. Wilson asserts that the clip will be “implemented,” because the director “has made it very clear that the tariff policy will not change during the current regulatory period.” The Irish manager reported that neither Aina nor the Department of Transport had knocked on the airline’s door to talk about the future of fares. “We attended the consultation meetings just to tell us how much money they were going to invest. Minister Oscar Puente He asserts: “I have lost all interest in regional airports, constantly promising the arrival of other airlines, but all they achieve is the separation of a vital part of the infrastructure of the Spanish economy, which is an abandoned part.”
Modified PP
However, Ryanair is still waiting to see what might happen tomorrow in the House of Representatives, where… Sustainable Mobility Law After it was returned with amendments from the Senate. Among these amendments was PP’s proposal to freeze airport fees for Aena, an initiative that the semi-general manager received with dismay, warning his investors that if it went ahead, it would force it to review its investment plan next year. Airport Regulation Document (DORA 3)Which amounts to 13,000 million euros in the period 2027-2031. However, Wilson believes this is “the right move” because he says that in areas affected by airline cuts, citizens and political authorities “realize that they are passing through airports that are open, but empty.”
But even if the amendment goes ahead, Wilson says airport taxes Aina will have to come down to compete with existing ones in airports in Italy, Sweden and Hungary It is another country that wants to attract traffic. “Ryanair does not have to return to regional Spain. “It will depend on the owners of those airports, and the only owner is Aena, which must create incentives to maximize the use of these infrastructures.”
More investment in Spain
Aside from its war with Aena, the low-cost airline giant highlights its “commitment” to Spain and its “growth”, where it is its second market. Italy. Yesterday, the company opened a training center for pilots and cabin crew in Madrid, in which it invested 130 million euros. “This will create another 150 jobs and enhance training for the more than 100 aircraft we have here in Spain,” says Wilson.
Located just a stone’s throw from Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport, Ryanair’s new training center is intended for the initial preparation of pilots and cabin crew (as well as engineers) in two “full-motion” Boeing 737-8200 “Gamechanger” simulators, along with a training cabin equipped for practical crew training. As Ryanair announced yesterday, two additional “full motion” simulators and two static simulators (six in total) will be added in 2026, completing the first advanced training facility of this caliber in Spain. “This new investment makes Madrid the most technologically advanced training center for pilots and cabin crew in Southern Europe,” the company says.
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