Ryanair has put the Spanish province airports in check. Fortunately for them, there is a thing called “capitalism”

Spanish airports are living a tremendous snake in recent months, and the absolute protagonist is Ryanair. The Irish airline has been using smaller airports for months, as regional, as a negotiating weapon in the battle against airport rates, threatening to leave them lying if their conditions were not met. He threatened … and fulfilled, being that of Valladolid one of the most affected airports. But where Ryanair closed, other companies have seen a chance.

And, as the Minister of Transportation says: “To dead king, king on.”

What’s happening. AENA is the public company that is responsible for the management of airports in Spain. A few months ago he announced that, as of March 2026, it would increase airport rates by 6.5%. This implies that the maximum entrance per traveler will go from 10.35 euros to 11.03 euros, a rise of 68 cents. Ryanair’s reaction was … sounded, so to speak.

Through several very public profiles, including that of its controversial CEO, Michael O’Leary, the company described the climb as unjustified, stating that regional airports would be less competitive against other European destinations. In general, the defense of Ryanair is based on affirming that Aena acts as a monopoly when the benefits of travelers and regional connectivity are put.

Affected. The manager justifies the increase in the need to face an investment plan of about 13,000 million euros with the aim of modernizing the network in the coming years before an expected increase in demand. All this led to the president of AENA and the Ministry of Transportation accused Ryanair of being blackmailing the country. It also accuses the company of using that increase in rates as an excuse to stop operating in regional airports, moving to the “airports in which it can set higher prices in its tickets to earn more money”. In fact, such a pulse can be allowed.

Ryanair’s response? Cut out a million places for the Christmas campaign of this 2025 through the cessation of operations in those regional airports in which the airline was the main mode of connection with other airports. The most affected, in addition to Valladolid, are Vigo or Santiago de Compostela, but also Tenerife Norte, Asturias, Santander, Zaragoza, Jerez or Vitoria.

Dead king, king. The truth is that Ryanair is one of the most powerful companies at European level, especially in these smaller airports, since its model is the one that allows connections between cities that other companies do not cover. However, his withdrawal of some Spanish airports is not something that worries one of the protagonists of this story: the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.

Oscar Puente defended a few days ago that Ryanair’s march would be compensated with the arrival of other companies. The minister argued that “no company will condition the airport policy with threats, stressing that” a dead king, king, and it seems that those new ‘kings’ are already peeking out.

To attack. It was the bridge itself who announced that airlines as Vueling would “immediately” cover the routes abandoned by Ryanair for this winter, ensuring that he himself has worked on negotiations with both Vueling and other companies to fill that void left by the Irish company.

Vueling will reinforce its presence in Santiago and Tenerife Norte, but it is not the only company that has seen an opportunity in this situation. Iberia Express or Wizz Air also work to cover part of the routes operated by Ryanair. Specifically, from Independent they comment that Vueling will increase its capacity by 15% in Santiago (reaching 578,000 seats) and 11% in Tenerife North (900,000 seats). Wizz Air, meanwhile, will open 40 additional routes until March 2026.

Another one that could enter the game is Volotea, an airline that is focused on connecting small and medium cities that has already collected the glove of Ryanair’s abandonment of French airports. Because this struggle of Ryanair against rates are also having it in parallel in France.

And the train? Of course, Ryanair has put the increase in rates in the center of the debate, but there is something that has been forged in recent years: the expansion of high speed. A few weeks ago we already commented that that of Santiago and Vigo, airports in which the Irish has closed operations, are two cities to which the arrival of high speed is especially affecting. In Asturias there are still complications, but new sections are planned that will allow the train to fight the plane soon. And in Zaragoza not only Renfe operates: Ouigo and Iryo joined not so much.

Now, where the train is not an option is in the Canary Islands, where Ryanair will reduce 400,000 places in winter, canceling 36 connections. There will be companies such as Vueling, Iberia Express or Binter who will have to demonstrate whether they can operate without travelers missing Ryanair. This next winter will be the fire test.

In the end, Ryanair has been able to blackmail Aena (and other European organizations) to some extent, since if he leaves his routes, due to competition, there are other companies that are looking forward to occupying their place.

Images | Ryanair, Robot8a

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