Budget airline has made big changes amid rows over charges – and comes as it warned scheduled flights could be axed due to fuel shortages
Ryanair has cancelled a lot of routes in Europe in 2026 – and the Iran war means the potential for more being axed later this year(Image: Getty)
Ryanair is making some big changes to its European network of routes in 2026 by exiting some airports entirely amid rows with some local governments over charges. The moves impact flights to popular destinations including Spain, Portugal, Germany and France.
And the list comes as the chief executive of Ryanair says the airline will not be able to run its full summer schedule because of jet fuel shortages if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
In an interview with ITV News, chief executive Michael O’Leary said that if the war in Iran doesn’t end “by the end of April”, he expects European airlines to start cutting scheduled flights.
“The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for 30 days. If it remains closed for 60 or 90 days, then we’re all facing an unknown scenario, and we are certainly looking at maybe having to cancel 5%–10% of flights through May, June and July,” he said.
O’Leary explained that airlines won’t be able to choose which routes to cancel – cuts will depend on which airports suffer fuel shortages.
He said he expects to have only a few days’ notice from jet fuel suppliers, making disruption hard to manage. Despite that, he urged passengers to book summer holidays “as quickly as they can”.
He was speaking after US President Donald Trump said he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks if he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon, even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire.
Recently Ryanair added another French airport to its list of route cuts for 2026, citing aviation taxes. Ryanair has targeted a number of routes this year across major destinations such as Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and beyond – with more destinations being added to the list this year.
This move will potentially slash around three million seats overall, while significantly impacting connections and passenger convenience for smaller cities.
Portugal
Ryanair ended all six of its routes to and from the Azores from the end of March this year, which will affect about 400,000 fliers per year. This will represent a cut of around 22 per cent in Ryanair’s Portuguese capacity, impacting key cities like Porto and Lisbon as well.
This is also mainly because of higher air traffic control fees imposed by the Portuguese operator ANA (Vinci), as well as EU taxes such as the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which targets short-haul flights to destinations like the Azores and Madeira, while exempting longer routes. A new €2 travel tax in Portugal, which Ryanair has said is counterproductive compared to other EU countries, has added to this.
Ryanair said in a press releaseL “Sadly, the ANA monopoly has no plan to grow low-fare connectivity to the Azores. The ANA monopoly faces no competition in Portugal – which has allowed it to extract monopoly profits, by raising Portuguese airport fees without penalty – at a time when competing EU airports are lowering fees to stimulate growth.
“The Portuguese Govt. must intervene and ensure that its airports, which are a critical part of national infrastructure – especially in an island economy like the Azores – are used to benefit the Portuguese people, rather than benefitting a French airport monopoly.”
However, ANA has categorically denied these monopoly abuse claims, stating that dialogue remains open and that the fees in the Azores were low.
Spain
Ryanair has also announced flight cuts to Spain in 2026. After cutting around one million seats for the winter 2025 schedule, the airline will follow up with a capacity reduction of about 1.2 million seats from its summer schedule for regional Spain.
This includes stopping all flights to Asturias, as well as Vigo. The airline will also close its base at Santiago de Compostela, while continuing to reduce capacity for Santander and Zaragoza and slashing connections to the Canaries.
Routes from Girona will also be reduced. Capacity is set to decrease by 11% over the summer season, which runs from March to the end of October. The airline will now operate 34 routes to 13 countries from the Costa Brava airport, including a new connection to Bucharest. Ryanair is cutting over 1 million, or 10% to 41%, of its winter 2025-2026 seats in Spain, particularly at regional airports, due to a dispute over a 6.62% increase in airport charges by operator Aena. Ryanair labeled the fees “excessive” and “monopoly” hikes, leading to base closures, while Aena accused the airline of “blackmail” and “dishonesty”
Aena approved a 6.62% increase in airport charges, adding roughly 68 euro cents per passenger, which Ryanair claims makes regional air connectivity unsustainable. In reply Ryanair reduced its Spanish winter schedule by roughly 41%, cutting 1 million seats (rising to 1.2M for Summer 2026) and closing bases/reducing services at regional airports including Tenerife North, Asturias, Jerez, Vitoria, and Zaragoza.
Aena Chairman Maurici Lucena labeled the cuts “blackmail” and “intimidating,” arguing that average airport charges at regional airports are much lower than in other European countries.
Ongoing disagreements with Spanish airport operator Aena over steep tax and airport fee hikes are to blame for the cuts, along with what Ryanair claims are “illegal bag fines” from the Spanish government – referring to the 2024 clampdown on extra cabin bag fees.
However, rival airlines such as Vueling, Binter, Iberia and Wizz Air have all stepped into the gap left by Ryanair, which is likely to decrease passenger inconvenience significantly, by offering many of the same routes.
Germany
In October 2025, Ryanair revealed that it would be slashing 24 routes to and from Germany – a reduction of almost 800,000 seats – for the Winter 2025/2026 schedule. Nine airports have already been affected so far, including Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Memmingen, Frankfurt-Hahn, Dresden, Dortmund and Leipzig. Operations will continue to be suspended at the Leipzig, Dresden and Dortmund airports in 2026 beyond the winter schedule.
However, details are yet to be released about which other airports might continue being impacted throughout the year. Ryanair has blamed high air traffic control (ATC) and security fees, as well as high German aviation taxes and numerous airport changes for this decision, slamming the government for harming competitiveness.
“Germany’s sky-high access costs are in stark contrast with countries such as Ireland, Spain and Poland which have no aviation taxes, or Sweden, Hungary and regional Italy, where aviation taxes are being scrapped alongside reduced access costs to boost traffic, tourism, jobs and economic recovery,” the airline said in a press release.
“As a result, Germany remains among the worst recovered air traffic markets in Europe, operating at just 88% of pre-Covid levels.”
France
France is also getting hit by Ryanair cuts in 2026. The airline already slashed 750,000 seats and 25 routes to France in winter 2025, after stopping all services to Bergerac, Brive and Strasbourg. This was mainly due to higher French airline taxes.
However, months after this decision, Ryanair announced in December that it would be restarting flights to Bergerac in summer 2026, following negotiations with French authorities, although services to Brive and Strasbourg remain suspended.
Ryanair cautioned that further French cancellations may be on the cards for 2026. “Ryanair will leave French regional airports in the summer of 2026,” the airline’s chief commercial officer, Jason McGuinness, revealed in the Paris-based ‘Challenges’ business magazine.
Ryanair stopped operations at Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport from 27 March due to environmental taxes. The carrier has also dropped its Dublin-Rodez route for 2026. Ryanair will, however, maintain services from London Stansted and Brussels to the airport in the southern region of Occitania.
Belgium
Ryanair has removed 20 routes and one million seats from Brussels and Charleroi for its winter 2026/27 schedule. Like other destinations, this is mainly due to a new Belgian aviation tax which will double the charge to €10 per passenger. Additionally, Charleroi might impose local taxes too.
These have impacted destinations like Milan-Bergamo, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome-Ciampino, Krakow and Mallorca, among others. “If the government really wants to revive Belgium’s economy, they should abolish this harmful aviation tax to generate more traffic and tourism, not double it,” the airline said.
In February Brussels Enterprise Court has ruled that several booking practices used by Ryanair are unlawful and has ordered the airline to change them or face a fine of €5,000 per day.The complaints included charges for a 10kg carry-on bag, lack of transparency about costs for services like priority boarding and additional luggage, as well as misleading marketing messages.
The court upheld these concerns. Unlawful practices include bundled pricing formulas, claims like “only 5 seats left at this price,” false discount advertisements with incorrect reference prices, and the failure to display separate baggage charges for round-trip flights.
