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Ryanair plans to stop flights from more European airports next summer, the airline’s commercial director has revealed.
The budget airline is to leave numerous French airports as a result of what it describes as “unviable” tax hikes in the country.
Ryanair had already announced that it would be cancelling all flights to Bergerac, Brive, and Strasbourg in July.
This reduction in service follows Ryanair’s plan to slash 1.2 million seats in its Spanish flight schedule next summer and end all flights to and from Asturias airport.
Now, speaking to French magazine, Challenges, chief commercial officer Jason McGuinness said blamed a tax increase for further cuts to its schedule.
McGuinness said: “They didn’t understand that when you increase taxes by 180 per cent, in Bergerac or Brive, it simply makes those airports economically unviable for us because we operate there on very tight margins.”
“Certainly, we published very good results this week, but even we, the leaders in Europe, are still going to lose money this winter.
“It therefore makes much more sense for us to allocate capacity in regional Italy, for example, because in Italy, three regions – Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Calabria, and Abruzzo – have abolished their version of aviation tax. We allocate capacity based on the lowest costs, to offer the lowest prices.”
He added: “Unfortunately, France is becoming less and less relevant for Ryanair.”
The new taxes will apply to all domestic and international flights from France. For domestic and intra-Europe flights, aviation taxes have increased from €2.63 (£2.33) to €7.40 (£6.45) for economy bookings and from €20.27 (£17.90) to €30 (£26.50) in business class.
Long-haul flights from France will now incur a levy of €40 (£35) in economy and premium economy cabins and €120 (£160) in business.
It comes as Steve Heapy, the CEO of Jet2, urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to maintain the current level of air passenger duty in the UK in her upcoming budget.
Ryanair, Europe’s biggest budget airline, reported strong financial results this summer, earning almost £25 per passenger. It made €1.72bn (£1.51bn) in profits after tax during the second quarter of its financial year, covering the months of July, August and September.
The operator has also announced substantial reductions to its German winter schedule, attributing the decision to rising aviation tax, ATC charges, security fees and airport costs.
The Irish budget airline’s move will result in the loss of 800,000 seats and the cancellation of 24 routes across nine airports, including Berlin, Hamburg, and Memmingen.
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