Brits have been advised to book flights to Spain before fares rise in the wake of Ryanair pulling thousands of seats from its schedule.
The budget carrier did so in response to what it said were “excessive” airport charges imposed by the Spanish airport operator Aena, which accuses Ryanair of trying to engineer free access to the popular holiday destination’s flight hubs.
Some 800,000 seats have been removed from the Spanish market, almost a fifth of Ryanair’s operations there. There are expected to be fewer flights at airports including Zaragoza, Santander, Asturias, Jerez and Valladolid.
At the time of writing, it is not clear which routes Ryanair plans to reduce or whether flights from Britain will be affected.
Ryanair is the only airline operating flights from the UK to Santander, suggesting cancellations here could seriously restrict access to the city.
John Grant, Executive Vice President at aviation analytics firm Official Aviation Guide of the Airways (OAG) warned reduced supply would lead to price hikes.
He told the Telegraph: “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.”
Mr Grant added that with hundreds of aircraft, Ryanair can move at short notice and will make sure it maximises revenues and profits. He said: “My advice is to book if you can before fares rise.”
Ryanair’s pulling of seats also comes after the airline was fined £90million by Spain’s consumer rights ministry, leading the company’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, to describe Spanish minister Pablo Bustinduy as a “crazy communist”.
Another factor putting pressure on prices, is a backlog in the delivery of new planes, with many carriers, including Ryanair, slashing passenger forecasts as a result.
The Irish carrier said in January it expects to carry 206 million passengers in its 2025-26 financial year, representing growth of 3%, down from the 210 million previously forecast.
It had already cut the guidance from 215 million to 210 million in November due to plane delivery woes. Airlines have been knocked by problems at Boeing, which was hit by a lengthy strike at the end of last year.
The aerospace giant has had to slow down production of its 737 MAX after a door panel blew out on a commercial flight in January last year.
With its passenger growth under pressure, Mr O’Leary has said Ryanair will “reallocate” its scarce capacity growth to regions and airports – in Poland, Sweden and Italy – which are investing in growth by cutting or abolishing aviation taxes and “incentivising traffic growth”.
