Ryanair has threatened to axe 20 more routes across Europe amid its raging war against rising taxes and access costs.
The budget airline slammed the Belgian government’s decision to increase its aviation levyto €10 per departing passenger from 2027 for short-haul flights, arguing that such a move will collapse demand and send air fares soaring.
In a fiery statement, Ryanair also criticised Charleroi city council’s proposed plans to introduce a €3 tax per departing passenger from next year.
Ryanair vows to cut Belgium routes
Belgium’s hiked ‘boarding tax’ is part of the country’s long-awaited budget, which aims to plug a €9.2 billion gap by 2029.
“Today the labor, tomorrow the fruit,” Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on X after the deal was finally reached following months of deadlocked negotiations.
Airports have already warned that the additional cost will have to be passed onto travellers, resulting in increased flight prices.
If both incentives go ahead, Ryanair has vowed to axe five aircraft based at the airports and 20 routes from its Brussels Winter 26/27 schedule. The cuts represent one million fewer seats, a 22 per cent reduction of its Brussels traffic.
The airline’s chief commercial officer, Jason McGuiness, argues repeatedly increasing aviation taxes risks leaving Belgium “uncompetitive” compared to other EU countries like Sweden, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia, which have removed taxes to drive traffic.
“Despite so many other EU countries taking this step to support their economies, Belgium is going in the opposite direction, driving up access costs and pushing airlines and tourism elsewhere,” McGuiness adds.
“We urge Prime Minister De Wever to scrap this damaging aviation tax before Belgian traffic, tourism, jobs and the wider economy collapse any further.”
McGuiness described Charleroi’s aviation tax as “lunacy”, threatening that thousands of local jobs could be lost if the council goes ahead with the plan.
Ryanair’s war on aviation tax
Ryanair has become increasingly vocal in opposing the rise of aviation tax across Europe, despite the growing need to help offset carbon emissions produced by short-haul flights and invest in environmental initiatives.
Just last month, the low-cost airline threatened to cancel all of its flights from the Azores over Portugal’s rising levies. Six routes and around 400,000 annual passengers would be lost.
Ryanair’s argument followed the same pattern, slamming ANA– which operates Portugal’s airports under the Vinci Group– for pricing itself out of competitive markets and calling for the tax to be abolished.
In Spain, Ryanair has already announced the suspension of winter services to cities such as Santiago de Compostela, and signalled imminent withdrawal from several regional airports in France.