EXCLUSIVE: The flight routes Ryanair will cut in Spain

On Monday September 3rd, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson held a press conference in Madrid in which he confirmed that the budget airline’s threats to reduce its operations in Spain will indeed be carried out.

All in all, 1 million fewer passenger seats and 36 less flight connections with Spain.

The airline already slashed 13 Spain flight routes in early 2025, reducing passenger numbers by 800,000.

The reason given by Ryanair for this drastic reduction in its flight operations in Spain are Spanish airport operator Aena’s “excessive” airport fees, which are due to go up further next year.

This reportedly makes the smaller regional airports in Spain in which Ryanair operates unprofitable, and it’s these which have been hit the most by the new flight cuts.

Ryanair has not disclosed exactly which of its Spanish flight routes will be cut in the coming months, telling The Local Spain that it had “nothing further to add this time”.

However, it has been possible for us to ascertain to a great extent which flight connections will be cancelled.

Vigo Airport

Cancelled flight route: Vigo - London Stansted

Ryanair did confirm that it will no longer fly to the northwestern Galician city of Vigo, and the only flight it operates there currently is with London Stansted in the UK. Once this connection is scrapped, there will be no direct flight between any British city and Vigo.

Tenerife North

Cancelled flight routes:

Tenerife North - Alicante

Tenerife North - Barcelona

Tenerife North - Madrid

Tenerife North - Palma

Tenerife North - Sevilla

Tenerife North - Valencia

Ryanair also confirmed that it will cease all operations in the airport in the north of the Canary Island of Tenerife - Tenerife Norte - which operates mainly national flights and is used largely by Spanish tourists and local residents.

This will also affect travellers who previously did layovers in Tenerife before flying to less well-connected Canary Islands such as La Gomera, El Hierro or La Palma.

Tenerife South, the airport which received the vast majority of the island’s international travel, is unaffected by the cuts.

Gran Canaria

Cancelled flight routes:

Gran Canaria - Barcelona

Gran Canaria - Alicante

Gran Canaria - Madrid

Gran Canaria - Seville

Gran Canaria - Valencia

The other large Canary Island of Gran Canaria is also losing five national flight routes, according to local daily Canarias 7.

As in the case of Tenerife North, there are other airlines operating these routes but less competition will inevitably result in higher prices.

Fuerteventura

Cancelled flight routes:

Fuerteventura - Barcelona

Fuerteventura - Madrid

Fuerteventura - London Luton

The eastern Canary Island famed for its beaches will lose flights to Spain's two biggest cities and its connection to Luton in southern England, according to Canarias 7.

Lanzarote

Cancelled flight routes:

Lanzarote - Barcelona

Lanzarote - Marseille

Lanzarote - London Luton

Lanzarote - Turin

Lanzarote's international flight offering will be affected by Ryanair's cuts, as it will lose one of its only direct flights with southern France (only Eayjet's Bordeaux flight will be left) and one of three direct links to northern Italy (Milan and Bologna left).

Santander

Cancelled flight routes:

Santander - Rome

Santander - Milan

Santander - Paris Beauvais

Santander - Vienna

The northern city of Santander in the region of Cantabria will lose some of its most important international flights.

Ryanair only announced that it would reduce its capacity at Santander by 38 percent, but local dailies such as El Diario Montañés and national papers such as Cadena Ser have announced that Santander will lose connections to four major European cities.

The Cantabrian government will reportedly attempt to convince Ryanair to backtrack, lamenting that their region has become a victim of the conflict between the airline and Aena.

Zaragoza

Cancelled flight routes:

Zaragoza - Fez

Zaragoza - Paris

Zaragoza - Palma de Mallorca

The northeastern city of Zaragoza, Spain’s fourth most populous, will lose key connections with Morocco, France and Mallorca, according to reports in the local and national press.

This will mean 45 percent fewer Ryanair flights from the Aragonese capital.

Santiago de Compostela

Cancelled flight routes:

Santiago de Compostela - Madrid

Santiago de Compostela - Málaga

Santiago de Compostela - Alicante

Santiago de Compostela - Gran Canaria

Santiago de Compostela - Palma de Mallorca

Santiago de Compostela - Zaragoza

Reduced flight frequencies:

Santiago de Compostela - Tenerife (10 to 3 weekly flights)

Santiago de Compostela - Valencia (8 down to 4 weekly flights)

Santiago de Compostela - Lanzarote (5 down to 2 weekly flights)

Santiago de Compostela - London (5 down to 2 weekly flights)

The Galician city of Santiago is arguably the worst hit by Ryanair as it is closing its base there, withdrawing the two aircraft it had at this northwestern airport and inevitably resulting in the loss of dozens of jobs.

In terms of flights, local Galician newspaper La Voz de Galicia is reporting that seven flight routes will be lost and several others will see their frequencies reduced.

Asturias and Vitoria

Although these two airports in northern Spain were named by Ryanair as part of their flight cuts, the 16 percent and 2 percent respective reduction will not result in the loss of any flight routes.

According to Asturian daily La Nueva España, Ryanair is legally obligated to continue operating flights from Asturias airport to Rome, Dusseldorf and Brussels until the summer of 2026 as these are partly funded by the regional government.