Ryanair, the airline renowned for its tongue-in-cheek social media persona and rock-bottom fares, is set to overhaul its services across key European destinations. The company has revealed plans to axe certain routes due to recent taxes or surcharges it would have to shoulder.

In Spain, the budget carrier has seen an 18 percent reduction in its summer 2025 traffic, equating to a loss of 800,000 seats and 12 routes. Ryanair confirmed to the Mirror that it will cease operations in Jerez and Valladolid, withdraw one aircraft based in Santiago, and reduce traffic at five other regional airports – Vigo (down 61 percent), Santiago (down 28 percent), Zaragoza (down 20 percent), Asturias (down 11 percent) and Santander (down 5 percent) – over the summer period.

CEO Eddie Wilson commented: “Excessive airport charges and lack of workable growth incentives continue to undermine Spain’s regional airports, limiting their growth and leaving vast swathes of airport’s capacity underutilised.”

However, the Mirror was informed that the average fee airlines will pay to Aena for airport services from March 1 this year will remain fixed at €10.35 per passenger. “This charge is among the lowest in Europe,” stated Aena, the world’s leading airport operator by passenger volume.

Yet, Spain isn’t the only country bracing for cuts from Ryanair. Travel and Tour World reports that increased charges could lead to reduced capacity in several popular destinations, including Italy, reports the Mirror.

Ryanair confirmed last month that it will also withdraw one of its Rome-based aircrafts from Fiumicino (Italy’s largest airport) for the summer of 2025. “This means no growth for Rome despite the celebrations for the Jubilee year,” the airline stated, attributing the decision to municipal surcharges in Italy’s main airports starting on April 1, 2025.

Austria is also under scrutiny due to its €12 air traffic tax. “This exorbitant tax, along with Austria’s high airport and security fees, is undermining Austria’s competitiveness as a tourist destination compared to lower-cost EU countries such as Sweden, Hungary and regions of Italy, all of which are abolishing aviation tax and reducing access costs to secure traffic and tourism growth,” Ryanair declared in a statement.

As previously reported, Ryanair has discontinued all flights to and from Aalborg following Denmark’s introduction of new aviation taxes.

The new tax, set at 50DKK (£5.57), will be levied on all passengers departing from Denmark and will be covered by airlines. This means that from next month, all flights to Aalborg from London Stansted will be cancelled.

However, airlines including KLM, Norwegian Air, and Scandinavian Airlines will continue to operate flights from the UK to Aalborg, but passengers will need to take a connecting flight to reach their destination. France.

France is gearing up for a significant hike in aviation tax, with rates expected to soar by more than double come 2025 – a move that appears to be backed by the Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin.

Emphasising its purpose, she remarked: “It is a measure of fiscal and ecological justice,” highlighting the disproportionate impact on air travel expenses by saying: “The 20 percent of the population with the highest income are responsible for more than half of the expenses devoted to air travel.”

This steep increase could potentially provoke Ryanair to scale back its French operations.

Travel and Tour World reports that the budget airline had already shut down its Bordeaux base last year and has since “backed out of operating flights to Paris”.