2025 has been a big year for Ryanair, with the European budget airline making some key changes and announcements. The airline revealed it is majorly expanding its winter schedule, especially in the UK, Finland and Italy, and launching new routes like London to Murcia and Rovaniemi to the UK. It also unveiled plans to boost passenger numbers and invest more in bases like Bologna. <\/p>\n
On the other hand, there were also some challenges, such as persistent Boeing delays, with Ryanair<\/a> CEO Michael O\u2019Leary slamming the aircraft company\u2019s management for \u201crunning around like headless chickens\u201d. The airline\u2019s recent move to phase out physical boarding passes has also been met with significant backlash. <\/p>\n However, one of the most impactful announcements was Ryanair\u2019s decision to cut several routes next year, across major destinations such as Spain<\/a>, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and more. <\/p>\n This move will potentially slash around three million seats overall, while significantly impacting connections and passenger convenience for smaller cities.<\/p>\n Here are all the places that will be affected by Ryanair\u2019s route cuts in 2026. <\/p>\n Which German routes is Ryanair cutting in 2026?<\/p>\n In October 2025, Ryanair revealed that it would be slashing 24 routes to and from Germany<\/a> – a reduction of almost 800,000 seats – for the Winter 2025\/2026 schedule. <\/p>\n Nine airports have already been affected so far, including Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Memmingen, Frankfurt-Hahn, Dresden, Dortmund and Leipzig<\/a>. Operations will continue to be suspended at the Leipzig, Dresden and Dortmund airports in 2026 beyond the winter schedule. <\/p>\n However, details are yet to be released about which other airports might continue being impacted throughout the year. <\/p>\n Ryanair has blamed high air traffic control (ATC) and security fees, as well as high German aviation taxes and numerous airport changes for this decision, slamming the government for harming competitiveness. <\/p>\n \u201cGermany\u2019s sky-high access costs are in stark contrast with countries such as Ireland, Spain and Poland<\/a> which have no aviation taxes, or Sweden, Hungary and regional Italy, where aviation taxes are being scrapped alongside reduced access costs to boost traffic, tourism, jobs and economic recovery,\u201d the airline said in a press release in October. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, Germany remains among the worst recovered air traffic markets in Europe, operating at just 88 per cent of pre-Covid levels.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryanair also called out the German government for backtracking on its promises to lower aviation taxes,<\/a> unlike other major EU nations. <\/p>\n Such taxes are, partially, in place to account for the devastating climate impact of flying, and to encourage travellers to take greener modes of transport such as trains<\/a>.<\/p>\n The airline has also revealed that it plans to move capacity out of Germany to other countries with more affordable costs, while warning of potential withdrawals and further reductions, if the situation does not improve. <\/p>\n However, if the government addresses the above issues, the airline has said that it would be happy to increase capacity again.<\/p>\n Which Spanish routes is Ryanair cutting in 2026?<\/p>\n Ryanair has also announced flight cuts to Spain next year. After cutting around one million seats for the winter 2025 schedule, the airline will follow up with a capacity reduction of about 1.2 million seats from its summer 2026 schedule for regional Spain<\/a>. <\/p>\n This includes stopping all flights to Asturias, as well as Vigo. The airline will also close its base at Santiago de Compostela, while continuing to reduce capacity for Santander and Zaragoza and slashing connections to the Canaries. <\/p>\n All flights have been stopped for Tenerife<\/a> North this winter. Jerez\u2019s base, which has also been closed this season, will remain shut in 2026. Similarly, all flights to Valladolid have been stopped, with Ryanair\u2019s base there being closed since winter 2024. <\/p>\n Ongoing disagreements with Spanish airport operator Aena over steep tax and airport fee hikes are to blame for the cuts, along with what Ryanair claims are \u201cillegal bag fines\u201d from the Spanish government – referring to the 2024 clampdown<\/a> on extra cabin bag fees.<\/p>\n According to Ryanair, this makes regional Spanish airports less competitive than lower-cost alternatives in Morocco<\/a> and Italy, among other places. <\/p>\n \u201cAena\u2019s monopoly approach to pricing is that small underused regional airports should charge similar rates as busy main airports like Madrid, Barcelona, Palma and Malaga. As a result, Ryanair is switching seat capacity to these bigger Spanish airports (where passenger demand and air fares are higher),\u201d the airline said in a press release in October. <\/p>\n It also said that it was moving to other lower-cost airports in Croatia, Morocco, Italy, Sweden and Albania<\/a>, where governments were reducing airport fees and lowering environmental taxes. <\/p>\n However, rival airlines such as Vueling, Binter, Iberia and Wizz Air have all stepped into the gap left by Ryanair, which is likely to decrease passenger inconvenience significantly, by offering many of the same routes. <\/p>\n Which routes is Ryanair cutting in France next year?<\/p>\n France<\/a> is also likely to be hit by Ryanair cuts in 2026. The airline has already slashed 750,000 seats and 25 routes to France in winter 2025, after stopping all services to Bergerac, Brive and Strasbourg. This was mainly due to higher French airline taxes. <\/p>\n However, months after this decision, Ryanair announced in December that it would be restarting flights to Bergerac in summer 2026, following negotiations with French authorities, although services to Brive and Strasbourg remain suspended. <\/p>\n Despite this, Ryanair has warned that further French cancellations may be on the cards for 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cRyanair will leave French regional airports in the summer of 2026,\u201d the airline\u2019s chief commercial officer, Jason McGuinness, revealed in the Paris-based \u2018Challenges\u2019 business magazine. However, no official details have been released yet about which additional regional airports will be impacted.<\/p>\n Which Belgian routes is Ryanair cutting in 2026?<\/p>\n Ryanair will remove 20 routes and one million seats from Brussels<\/a> and Charleroi for its winter 2026\/27 schedule. <\/p>\n Like other destinations, this is mainly due to a new Belgian aviation tax which will double the charge to \u20ac10 per passenger. Additionally, Charleroi might impose local taxes too. <\/p>\n These have impacted destinations like Milan-Bergamo, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome-Ciampino, Krakow and Mallorca<\/a>, among others. This decision cuts around 22 per cent of Ryanair\u2019s Belgian capacity, with the airline also withdrawing five aircraft from the Zaventem and Charleroi bases. <\/p>\n \u201cIf the government really wants to revive Belgium\u2019s economy, they should abolish this harmful aviation tax to generate more traffic and tourism, not double it,\u201d the airline said in a press release in early December. <\/p>\n \u201cRyanair calls again on Prime Minister De Wever and his government to abolish the aviation tax or Belgian traffic will collapse and fares will soar, just as they have done in Austria<\/a> and Germany, where governments repeatedly increased access costs.\u201d<\/p>\n Which Ryanair routes are being cut in Portugal?<\/p>\n Ryanair will slash all six of its routes to and from the Azores from the end of March next year, which will affect about 400,000 fliers per year. This will represent a cut of around 22 per cent in Ryanair\u2019s Portuguese capacity, impacting key cities like Porto and Lisbon<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n This is also mainly because of higher air traffic control fees imposed by the Portuguese operator ANA (Vinci), as well as EU taxes such as the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which targets short-haul flights to destinations like the Azores<\/a> and Madeira, while exempting longer routes.<\/p>\n A new \u20ac2 travel tax in Portugal, which Ryanair has said is counterproductive compared to other EU countries, has added to this. <\/p>\n