Aena fails in its search for Ryanair replacements at regional airports

The affected terminals lost a total of 10.5% of their passengers in April compared to the same month in 2024.

Air Nostrum and Vueling have been mentioned as possible substitutes on some routes, but, for the moment, the reaction has been limited.

Aena has not yet managed to replace Ryanair’s traffic at the seven regional airports where it has reduced or ceased operations since April. The affected terminals (Valladolid, Jerez, Vigo, Santiago, Asturias, Santander, and Zaragoza) lost a combined 10.5% of their passengers compared to the same month in 2024, according to Aena data reported by El País ( Ryanair to cut 800,000 seats at regional airports in Spain) .

The sharpest decline was recorded in Valladolid, with a 63.2% drop, while other airports such as Santander (-0.3%) and Asturias (-1.7%) managed to contain the impact better. Only Zaragoza experienced growth, with a 13.6% increase in traffic. In total, and despite Easter, losses are around 92,000 passengers in the fourth month of the year ( Ryanair blames Óscar Puente for the “terminal decline” of regional airports) .

Ryanair announced in January its decision to completely withdraw from Jerez and Valladolid and reduce its presence at the other airports mentioned above. The company argued that airport taxes at small facilities are too high and do not allow for profitable operations.

So far, no airline has taken on the volume left behind by this one. Volotea has announced a new route between Jerez and Asturias, and others such as Air Nostrum and Vueling have been mentioned as possible replacements. However, the reaction has been limited, partly because the Irish company’s announcement came when its summer schedule was practically complete.

Since the cuts became known, Aena and the Ministry of Transport have been engaged in an open confrontation with the airline. Ryanair unsuccessfully requested a fee reduction and has accused Aena and the government of failing to support regional connectivity. For its part, the Ministry believes the company is seeking preferential treatment that could be incompatible with European regulations and refuses to change its fares.

Despite all this, and despite the retraction, Ryanair continues to gain passengers throughout Spain. In April, it carried 5.46 million passengers, 7% more than the previous year, remaining the country’s leading airline in terms of passenger volume.