THE chief executive of Spain’s state-owned airport operator has accused Ryanair’s outspoken CEO Michael O’Leary of ‘not telling the truth’ over a bitter fees row that has led the low-cost airline to cut two million seats on flights to Spain – with the threat of another million cancellations looming on the horizon.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Aena’s chair and chief executive Maurici Lucena hit out at O’Leary, accusing the Irish billionaire of ‘lying continuously’ and obscuring what Lucena believes is the true reason for the cuts.
“What really bothers me is that they’re not telling the truth,” Lucena said in an interview published on Sunday.
“It has nothing to do with Aena’s fees. The reason they lie is that they don’t want to face the political and reputational cost of abandoning some regional airports, and in some cases even causing job losses when they shut down a base. That’s the real underlying issue.”
Earlier this summer, Ryanair announced it would slash two million seats from its schedule and pull out of a host of regional airports this winter, citing Aena’s decision to hike passenger fees by 6.5% for 2026 – the highest increase for a decade.
“If the costs in regional Spain are too high, I will fly elsewhere,” O’Leary told the Financial Times after the airline’s annual meeting.
“If the Spanish government can’t persuade Aena [to back down], then I’ve no desire to serve them anyway.”
The Dublin-based airline has already confirmed it will not operate winter flights to Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Valladolid, Jerez and Tenerife North.
But Aena’s boss says the fee increase amounts to just €0.68 per passenger, and believes the row is a smokescreen for Ryanair to shift planes to routes outside Spain where the carrier can make more money, including by charging higher airfares and securing taxpayer-funded support from governments.
“For [Ryanair], the business case includes everything: airport fees, the strength of demand, and public subsidies. Then, from that algorithm, they decide where to assign the planes.”
Lucena claims Ryanair is under pressure to maximise short-term profitability amid delays to the delivery of new Boeing planes which have disrupted ambitious expansion plans – with low-profit routes to Spain falling under the microscope.
He also said there was no chance Aena would close any smaller airports impacted by the cuts, adding that other airlines such as low-cost carrier Vueling are willing to fill the void.
READ MORE: Vueling offers Spain’s airports 1.5 million new passenger seats in wake of Ryanair withdrawals
“The airlines will fill these gaps over the coming months, but it takes time,” Lucena said.
“Who needs who more? I don’t know. But they need us a lot, absolutely. And they’ll keep on needing us if they want to serve their shareholders well in the coming years.”
Spain’s transport minister has backed Aena, branding Ryanair’s tactics ‘blackmail’.
In response, a Ryanair spokesperson said: “If we are lying as Lucena claims, then why doesn’t he call our bluff and cut Aena’s high fees at Spain’s empty regional airports?
“Ryanair always goes where costs are lower and will happily go back to regional Spain when they stop charging Madrid / Barcelona prices. Until then it’s adios Aena!”
Ryanair is the biggest airline in Spain by passenger numbers and the second largest market for the carrier by revenue, representing 18% of total income last year.
Some 47.2 million passengers used Ryanair in Spain in the eight months to the end of August this year, according to Aena, a 5.1% rise from this time in 2024.
The increase is down to rising traffic at bigger airports including Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.
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