CALLS ON SPANISH REGULATOR & SPANISH GOVT. TO HONOUR FIVE YEAR CHARGE FREEZE

Ryanair, Europe, and Spain’s No.1 airline, confirms it has lodged a formal appeal against Aena’s attempts to circumvent the Spanish Government’s (DGAC) 2021 ruling to impose a 5-year charge freeze across Spanish airports – a ruling which directly contributed to the rapid post-Covid recovery and growth of Spanish connectivity, tourism, and employment.

If Aena are allowed to proceed with their charge increase, this will mean airport charges will rise at every airport in Spain, including peripheral island regions like the Canaries and Balearics, where air connectivity is essential for local communities. In a single move, Aena is threatening Spain’s vital air connectivity in what is the biggest threat to Spanish tourism since Covid.

Until now, Aena has led the way in Europe for post-Covid traffic recovery, driven by their sensible decision to keep charges frozen in the wake of the pandemic until 2027. Ryanair’s Spanish growth has been in direct response to Aena’s freeze in airport charges, bringing growth of 12% to Spain this Summer alone, operating 40 million seats over 740 routes. Aena’s attempts to increase charges puts this capacity at risk, harming direct and indirect jobs in the Spanish tourism sector, which Spain’s economy is heavily reliant upon.

Ryanair calls on the Spanish Council of Ministers and the Spanish Regulator (CNMC) to protect passenger growth by ensuring Aena continues to respect the ruling made by the Spanish Government in 2021 to freeze airport charges until 2027. This is a brazen attempt to ignore the law, which aims to increase the competitiveness of Spain through a freeze in charges.

Ryanair DAC’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“Aena’s attempt to circumvent the 5-year charge freeze imposed by the Spanish Govt. in 2021 runs counter to government policy to support growth. The Spanish Govt. took the sensible decision at the height of the pandemic to impose a charge freeze for 5-years across all Spanish airports, positioning itself as one of the most competitive countries across Europe for attracting European short-haul capacity – which has become increasingly scarce across Europe. As a direct result of this decision, Spain is now among the leading countries for post-Covid recovery, and now has more capacity than it did in 2019.

This summer alone, Ryanair has grown its capacity in Spain by +12%, and this year will operate over 40M seats to/from Spain across 740 routes benefiting the Spanish economy, its residents, and tourists. If Aena are allowed to proceed with this charge increase, this will mean airport charges will rise at every airport in Spain, including peripheral island regions like the Canaries and Balearics, where air connectivity is essential for local communities. In a single move, Aena is seeking to undo all the good work to date to recover vital air connectivity in what is the biggest threat to Spanish tourism since Covid.

Ryanair calls on the Spanish Council of Ministers and the Spanish Regulator (CNMC) to protect passengers and local economies by ensuring Aena continues to respect the ruling made by the Spanish Government in 2021 to freeze airport charges until 2027.”