Ryanair will reduce its capacity in Spain next winter and shut down its Santiago base following a planned increase in charges by Spanish airport operator Aena.

The budget carrier on Wednesday (3 September) said it will reduce capacity by 41 per cent in Spain and by 10 per cent in the Canary Islands ¨C resulting in the loss of more than a million seats and the cancellation of 36 regional routes.

Ryanair said a 6.6 per cent increase in airport charges announced by state-owned Aena ¨C which operates 46 airports in Spain, including international hubs in Madrid and Palma De Mallorca ¨C would make some of its regional routes unviable in 2026.

As a result of the planned fee hike, the Irish carrier will suspend all flights to Vigo (from 1 January 2026) and Tenerife North (from the start of the 2025 winter season) and reduce its operating capacity at four regional airports: Zaragoza (-45 per cent), Santander (-38 per cent), Asturias (-16 per cent) and Vitoria (-2 per cent).

The move comes after Ryanair in July announced similar capacity cuts in France following the French government's decision to increase its Airline Ticket Solidarity Tax earlier this year.

Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson in a statement labelled Aena as ¡°monopolistic¡± and said its latest decision to increase fees will see most of Ryanair's capacity in regional Spain moved to ¡°more efficient airports¡± in Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Sweden and Hungary.

¡°Ryanair remains committed to Spain, but we cannot justify continued investment in airports whose growth is being stymied by excessive and uncompetitive charges,¡± Wilson said.

In a scathing rebuttal, Aena chairman CEO Maurici Lucena said the carrier isn¡¯t cancelling regional routes due to fee hikes but rather ¡°is transferring its aircraft to airports where it can set higher prices for its airline tickets and thus earn more money¡±.

In a statement posted on the Aena website, Lucena added: ¡°For some time now Ryanair has sought to take advantage of its high market share in Spain¡­ It is truly a pity that Ryanair's communications and institutional relations policy appears to be governed by hypocrisy, rudeness and blackmail.¡±