Brits eager for some Spanish sun have been warned to book their flights soon, as Ryanair's decision to slash thousands of seats could send prices soaring. The budget airline has clipped its wings in Spain, blaming "excessive" airport charges by Aena, the Spanish airport operator, which has accused Ryanair of trying to get free access to the country's flight hubs. A total of 800,000 seats are being axed from Ryanair's Spanish offerings, nearly 20% of its operations there, with potential reductions at Zaragoza, Santander, Asturias, Jerez, and Valladolid airports. There's currently no confirmation on the exact routes that will see their schedules trimmed.
With Ryanair being the sole carrier flying the UK to Santander route, any cuts would make travel to the area difficult for Brits. John Grant from OAG, who works with aviation data, said fewer seats could mean higher fares. Speaking to the Telegraph, he advised, "There is little scope for anyone replacing Ryanair and that may lead to a shortage of capacity, which in time will result in higher airfares." Ryanair have hundreds of aircraft, which John says means it can move at short notice and will make sure it maximises revenues and profits. "My advice is to book if you can before fares rise," he added.
Ryanair's decision to remove seats from sale follows a hefty £90million fine by Spain's consumer rights ministry. It prompted the airline's boss, Michael O'Leary, to label Spanish minister Pablo Bustinduy as a "crazy communist". There has also been a delay in new aircraft deliveries, causing many airlines, including Ryanair, to trim their passenger number predictions. The Dublin-based airline announced this January that it now anticipates ferrying 206 million passengers in the financial year of 2025-26, which is a modest increase of 3%, down from the 210 million it had previously projected.
This forecast had already been reduced from 215 million to 210 million last November due to ongoing issues with plane deliveries. The aviation sector has felt the turbulence from troubles at Boeing, which suffered a significant strike towards the end of the previous year. Boeing has also been forced to decelerate its production of the 737 MAX model following an incident where a door panel detached during a commercial flight in January of the preceding year.
