Ryanair has unveiled a comprehensive list of flight cancellations across Europe, affecting millions of travelers and reshaping holiday plans for winter 2026 and the summer season. The budget airline will reduce its overall capacity by 45%, cutting around 700,000 seats compared to winter 2025.
Central to these changes is the closure of Ryanair’s significant Greek base in Thessaloniki, where it operates three aircraft. This move will markedly diminish regional connectivity, with 12 routes, including flights to Berlin, Frankfurt, Venice, and Stockholm, being axed. Additional route cuts will impact Athens, Chania, and Paphos, as the airline shifts aircraft resources to countries with lower airport fees such as Albania, Italy, and Sweden.
Ryanair attributes these reductions largely to rising airport charges, accusing operators of failing to implement government-mandated fee cuts. In Greece, despite a 75% reduction in the Airport Development Fee to boost year-round tourism, Ryanair remains critical of local airport fees. Similarly, the airline will cease all flights to Asturias, Vigo, and suspend its Santiago de Compostela base in Spain, trimming capacity by 11% during the summer season. Connections to the Canary Islands and flights to Tenerife North and Valladolid have also been eliminated.
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In the Azores, Ryanair stopped all six routes to and from the islands as of May 29, impacting around 400,000 annual visitors. Germany will see a reduction of 24 flight services, with closures of the Berlin hub and halving of its winter schedule to the city due to a 10% fee increase, following a 50% rise since 2019. Other affected German destinations include Hamburg, Memmingen, Cologne, and Leipzig.
France will witness Ryanair’s exit from several regional airports, including Strasbourg and Brive, with a complete withdrawal from these markets planned for summer 2026. Brussels airports are facing a significant cutbacks as well, with one million seats removed and 20 routes eliminated, constituting a 22% capacity reduction. The airline has called on the Belgian government to abolish the aviation tax, warning that continued fees will damage traffic and cause fare hikes, drawing parallels with similar issues in Austria and Germany.
Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson lamented these necessary but regretted cuts, emphasizing the role of escalating airport fees in forcing the airline to reduce its footprint across Europe. This strategic redeployment aims to align Ryanair’s operations with more competitive fee environments while accommodating fluctuating demand and financial pressures in the aviation industry.