Ryanair have said there are no more flights to the holiday spot
Stock image of a Ryanair plane(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ryanair flights to a popular holiday island hotspot from Dublin are no longer running due to “high airport fees”.
The budget airline confirmed that all flights to and from the Azores will be cancelled from March 29 onwards due to what Ryanair said were high airport fees set by the French airport monopoly ANA.
Ryanair also said the move was the result of Portuguese government inaction that has increased ATC charges by +120 per cent post-Covid and introduced a €2 travel tax, at a time when other EU States are abolishing travel taxes to secure scarce capacity growth.
Ryanair’s CCO Jason McGuinness said: “We are disappointed that the French airport monopoly ANA continues to raise Portuguese airport fees to line its pockets, at the expense of Portuguese tourism and jobs – particularly on the Portuguese islands.
“As a direct result of these rising costs, we have been left with no alternative other than to cancel all Azores flights from 29 March 2026 onwards and relocate this capacity to lower cost airports elsewhere in the extensive Ryanair Group network across Europe.
“This loss of low fare connectivity to the Azores is direct result of the French monopoly airport operator – VINCI – imposing excessive airport charges across Portugal (which have risen by up to 35 per cent since Covid) and the anti-competitive enviro taxes imposed by the EU, which exempt more polluting long haul flights to the US and Middle East, at the expense of EU remote regions such as the Azores.
“After 10 years of year-round Ryanair operations, one of Europe’s most remote regions will now lose direct low-fare flights to London, Brussels, Lisbon, and Porto due to ANA’s high airport fees and Portuguese Govt. inaction.”
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