Ryanair cuts flights across Europe due to rising taxes and airport fees: what happens to Budapest flights?
Ryanair, one of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines, has announced another major decision: it will cancel or reduce flights in several countries due to increased taxes and airport charges. The move will mainly affect busy airports in Western and Northern Europe, while Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, could actually benefit from the changes.
According to a statement from the airline reported by Euronews, the measure will hit Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Estonia and Latvia the hardest. Although no flight suspensions are expected in Lithuania, Ryanair said it would not expand its operations there due to significant tax increases at the airports of Vilnius and Palanga.
Rising airport charges and state taxes
Ryanair stated clearly that soaring airport fees and government taxes are making the low-cost business model unsustainable. “While countries such as Albania, Hungary, Poland, Sweden and Italy are cutting entry costs to boost air traffic growth, many others are moving in the opposite direction,” the airline wrote in its latest announcement.
The specific changes vary by country. In Germany, Ryanair is cutting more than 800,000 seats from its winter schedule and cancelling 24 routes from nine high-cost airports, including Berlin, Hamburg and Memmingen. In France, severe cutbacks are also expected, with 25 routes and 750,000 seats scrapped for the winter season, affecting regional airports such as Brive, Bergerac and Strasbourg.
In Spain, the airline plans to reduce capacity by 10% (around 1.2 million seats) next summer in response to higher charges introduced by the country’s main airport operator, Aena. All Asturias routes will be discontinued, and by the 2025 winter season, the airline will offer one million fewer seats to Spanish destinations.
In Austria, Ryanair will withdraw three aircraft from its Vienna base and terminate routes to Billund, Santander and Tallinn, citing “excessive airport charges” that have made operations there unsustainable. In Estonia, capacity will be reduced by 40%, with five international routes from Tallinn, including Rome–Ciampino and Milan–Bergamo, to be cut. From Riga, the capital of Latvia, seven international routes will disappear, including flights to Berlin, Edinburgh and Gothenburg.
Hungary could be among the winners
Ryanair has made it clear that it plans to expand in countries where governments and airports are keeping fees low or actively promoting air traffic growth. The airline sees potential for expansion in Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia, Albania, Morocco and certain regions of Italy.
The company’s move is not merely a business decision but also a clear message to stakeholders in Europe’s aviation sector: if airport operators and governments overburden passengers and airlines with taxes and fees, air traffic will quickly decline. According to Világgazdaság, this could even mark the beginning of the end for the low-cost model in Western Europe, while Central Europe, including Hungary, could remain an attractive market for the budget carrier.