400,000 Seats Cut: Ryanair Abandons Azores Due To Rising Costs

Ryanair is cutting all flights to and from the Azores, starting March 29, 2026. The airline claims that it has been “left with no choice” due to excessive airport fees and rising regulatory costs in Portugal, which it says make the routes unviable for its low-cost model.

Ryanair says that this will result in a reduction of 400,000 annual seats to the Azores, a significant blow to tourism for the mid-Atlantic archipelago. The Irish airline has been making significant reductions across its European network as a result of airport fees and government regulations, including to its winter schedules in Germany, France, and the Baltic states, with massive cuts also coming to its Summer 2026 schedule in Spain.

Four Routes In The Azores Are Canceled

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Ryanair says that it is cutting all flights to the Azores due to a dispute over rising costs with Portuguese airport operator ANA, which is majority-owned by VINCI Airports, a French company. The airline says that ANA has no competition in Portugal, and is “allowed to extract monopoly profits without penalty.” The result is that airport fees at Ponta Delgada (PDL), the main airport for the Azores, have increased by 35% since the pandemic, creating what Ryanair describes as unviable conditions for a low-cost operation.

In addition to the airport charges, Ryanair has heavily criticized the Portuguese government for not intervening to regulate these high fees and ensuring that airports serve the public benefit. It has also been critical of a new €2 per-passenger travel tax, increased Air Traffic Control fees (reportedly up by 120%), and the application of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to the remote region.

The net result is that Ryanair will be removing the four routes it currently has scheduled to the Azores, from Ponta Delgado and the secondary airport of Terceira Island to both Lisbon and Porto. Ryanair’s CCO Jason McGuinness described how “disappointed” the airline is with the situation. He said:

“We are disappointed that the airport monopoly ANA continues to raise Portuguese airport fees to line its pockets, at the expense of Portuguese tourism and jobs. After 10 years of year-round Ryanair operations, one of Europe’s most remote regions will now lose low-fare flights due to ANA’s high airport fees and Portuguese Government inaction.”

A Significant Blow To Tourism

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The Azores’ relies heavily on tourism, so the loss of the year-round Ryanair routes is likely to be a significant blow to the local economy. However, Ryanair was already pulling back from the archipelago, having reduced its number of annual seats by more than 200,000 (or 35%) over the past three years. Indeed, while it used to fly regular service from Ponta Delgada to seven European airports, including London Stansted Airport, Frankfurt Hahn Airport, and Manchester Airport, it currently only had the routes to Lisbon and Porto scheduled for 2026.

Ponta Delgada will still has 22 routes to Europe and North America remaining for the summer of 2026, and the withdrawal of Ryanair might well spur on other carriers to fill the void. Local carrier Azores Airlines is present on many of the routes, but larger carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa also have regular service to the Azores, and United Airlines will be returning with its seasonal 737 MAX 8 service from Newark Liberty International Airport.

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Ryanair Has Been Cutting Flights Across Europe

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Ryanair has been cutting flights across Europe as a reaction to what it perceives as high airport fees and over-regulation. In Germany, the airline’s winter 2025 schedule has seen a reduction of over 800,000 seats and the cancellation of 24 routes across nine airports. In France, Ryanair has canceled 25 routes and 750,000 seats for the winter season due to “excessive airport costs.” And across the Baltics, Ryanair has cut capacity at Tallinn Airport by 40% following a 70% increase in airport fees, and by 20% at Riga International Airport with seven international destinations canceled, due to a 15% increase in access fees.

These cuts will continue on into the airline’s summer schedule, as its decision about the Azores makes clear. It also plans to reduce French capacity further, leaving several regional airports entirely such as Brive, Bergerac and Strasbourg. Some of the biggest reductions are coming in Spain, with the airline cutting approximately 1.2 million seats at regional airports across the summer season, and entirely discontinuing flights at Asturias, Jerez, Valladolid, and Santiago de Compostela.

Ryanair has stated that it is reallocating this capacity to countries with lower costs and taxes, such as Poland, Italy, Hungary, and Sweden, which have either kept fees low or scrapped aviation taxes entirely.