Ryanair's operations in Spain will be reduced by 16% compared to the previous winter, resulting in an overall reduction of one million seats on flights, in addition to the 800,000 eliminated during the summer season.

Overall, the low-cost airline will cut nearly two million seats on flights in Spain in 2025, having decided to extend them to destinations such as Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, and Sweden.

"A tourism catastrophe" for some regions of Spain, Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said today in Madrid during a presentation of changes to its operations in the country after the end of the summer.

The airline will reduce operations by 41% at the affected regional airports in mainland Spain (600,000 fewer seats) and by 10% in the Canary Islands (400,000 fewer seats).

Wilson justified these cuts by citing the fees applied by Aena, the company that manages Spanish airports, which he considered "excessive and uncompetitive."

In this context, the company will close its two-plane base in Santiago de Compostela and suspend all flights to Vigo starting January 1st.

Ryanair will also stop flying to Tenerife North, in the Canary Islands, at the beginning of winter 2025.

In the summer, the company had already stopped flying to Valladolid and Jerez and will continue to close operations at these two airports.

On the other hand, it will reduce capacity at four other airports – Zaragoza (by 45%), Santander (38%), Asturias (16%), and Vitoria (2%).

Over the summer, Ryanair had already reduced capacity at Vigo (by 61%), Santiago de Compostela (28%), Zaragoza (20%), Asturias (11%), and Santander (5%).

In the Canary Islands, the cuts affect Tenerife North (where Ryanair is closing its operations entirely), Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote.

Despite the overall cuts, and especially at regional airports, Ryanair intends to increase capacity at larger airports in Spain, but the company did not disclose which ones or to what extent.

"Ryanair remains committed to Spain, but we cannot justify continued investment in airports whose growth is hindered by excessive and uncompetitive charges," said Ryanair's CEO.