The Irish airline Ryanair has announced that this winter it will close its base in Santiago de Compostela and cancel all flights to Vigo and Tenerife North.
This cutback affects numerous Spanish routes due, according to the company, to the “excessive and uncompetitive airport fees” imposed by Aena, which has decided to raise them by 0.68 euros per passenger.
The decision was communicated by CEO Eddie Wilson during the presentation of the winter season and also entails the suspension of operations in Valladolid and Jerez, as well as a substantial reduction in capacity at the airports of Asturias, Santander, Vitoria, and Zaragoza, resulting in up to two million fewer seats per year in the Spanish market.
According to Wilson, the reduction will reach 41% in regional airports (which means about 600,000 fewer seats) and 10% in the Canary Islands (approximately 400,000 fewer seats).
Government sources announce that they will not give in to the “blackmail” while the president of AENA, Maurici Lucena, speaks of “extortion” and assures that “no supernatural demonic force is forcing Ryanair to be one of AENA’s major clients.”
