Ryanair reduces its winter flight schedule in Greece and accuses Fraport Greece of excessive airport charges
Ryanair has opened a new dispute with Greek airport operators after announcing that, for the winter 2026 season, it is closing its base in Thessaloniki and reducing part of its flights to Greece. According to the Irish low-cost carrier's statement of 8 May 2026, the decision means withdrawing three aircraft from the Thessaloniki base, reducing total capacity by about 700,000 seats and cancelling 12 routes compared with winter 2025. The company claims this is a direct consequence of, as Ryanair states, the "uncompetitive" costs charged by Fraport Greece and Athens Airport. Fraport Greece rejects that explanation and claims that the reasons for the reduction in operations are linked to the airline's own commercial strategy, business model and profitability. The dispute is important because it concerns not only one base, but also the broader issue of the price of air access to Greece outside the main tourist season.
What Ryanair is cancelling in the winter flight schedule
According to Ryanair, the winter cuts for the 2026 season cover four Greek airports and a total of 12 routes. The biggest impact concerns Thessaloniki, where the carrier is closing its base with three stationed aircraft and cancelling ten routes: to Berlin, Chania, Frankfurt-Hahn, Gothenburg, Heraklion, Niederrhein, Poznań, Stockholm, Venice Treviso and Zagreb. In addition, the company states that it will cancel the Athens – Milan Bergamo route and the Chania – Paphos line. Ryanair also announced that during the weaker winter months it will suspend operations in Chania and Heraklion, which particularly affects Crete outside the summer season. The statement says that the total reduction amounts to 700,000 seats, or 45 percent less compared with winter 2025. For Thessaloniki, the company specifically highlights the loss of 500,000 seats and a 60-percent drop in capacity compared with the previous winter.
Ryanair claims that Thessaloniki was particularly exposed because, according to the company's statements, last winter it provided 90 percent of the international low-cost capacity at that airport. Such a claim emphasizes how much the low-cost model relies on the price of airport services and how quickly aircraft can be moved to markets the company considers more favourable. According to a statement by Ryanair's Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness, three aircraft from Thessaloniki will be redirected to Albania, regional Italian airports and Sweden. Ryanair claims that these markets are more competitive because, according to the company, airports there have passed on the benefits of tax or charge reductions to carriers and passengers. In this way, the decision is presented not as a withdrawal from demand, but as a redistribution of capacity toward lower costs.
The centre of the dispute: Airport Development Fee and airport charges
Ryanair links its decision to the Greek airport development charge, known as the Airport Development Fee, or ADF. According to the company's statement, since November 2024 the Greek government has reduced this charge by 75 percent, from 12 euros to 3 euros per passenger. Ryanair claims that this decision should have made access to Greek airports cheaper, stimulated traffic throughout the year and eased the seasonality of tourism. However, the airline accuses Fraport Greece and Athens Airport of not passing that effect on to passengers, but instead, according to its interpretation, replacing or neutralizing the reduction in the state charge with their own airport charges. Ryanair specifically claims that Fraport Greece's charges in Thessaloniki are 66 percent higher than before the pandemic, that is, compared with 2019.
Such argumentation is not new in Ryanair's business policy, as the company regularly publicly pressures airports and regulators when it judges that costs undermine the profitability of individual bases. In this case, the company is asking for airport charges to be frozen and for the full effect of the reduced ADF to be passed on to the market. Ryanair also announced that it had presented the Greek government with a growth plan under which traffic in Greece could rise to 12 million passengers a year, with ten additional aircraft, more than one billion US dollars in additional investment and 50 new routes over the next five years. But the carrier makes that plan conditional on lower costs of airport access. In this way, the cutting of the winter flight schedule has become both negotiating pressure and a warning about how low-cost carriers assess markets in the weaker season.
Fraport Greece rejects the accusations
Fraport Greece, which manages 14 Greek regional airports, rejected the claim that the closure of Ryanair's base in Thessaloniki is the result of airport charges. According to a statement reported by GTP Headlines, the operator considers linking the decision to airport charges or the state ADF charge to be "completely unfounded". Fraport Greece states that the reduction of the winter flight schedule is exclusively connected with Ryanair's commercial strategy, business model and assessment of profitability. The company also pointed out that it was informed of the decision on the same day that Ryanair's announcements were presented to the public in Athens. In a statement reported by eKathimerini, Fraport Greece added that Ryanair remains an important partner, but only one of more than 40 carriers operating at Thessaloniki Airport.
The operator emphasizes that Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia" today connects the city and the wider Macedonian region with more than 93 destinations in 33 countries. According to Fraport Greece, more than 100 million euros have been invested in the modernization and expansion of Thessaloniki Airport since it took over management. The company claims that these investments contributed to strong traffic growth, which has increased by 40 percent over the past nine years and reached record levels. Fraport Greece's official website states that the aeronautical charges for the 14 regional airports have been in force since 11 April 2017, when the operator took over management, and documents with charges valid from 1 April 2026 have also been published for Thessaloniki. In this way, Fraport seeks to present its position as regulated and transparent infrastructure management, and not as a unilateral increase in costs without procedure.
Athens and the broader regulatory framework
Although Thessaloniki is the most affected, Ryanair explicitly mentions Athens Airport in its criticism as well. According to Athens International Airport documents, the Athens operator decided in 2024 to keep most airport charges unchanged, but increased the Passenger Terminal Facility charge from November 2024. The explanation by the Athens airport states that the change was linked to the reduction of the ADF and that the goal was to compensate for the loss of revenue and maintain a stable overall level of charging toward users and passengers. Ryanair already challenged such an approach in 2024 and called on the Greek government and the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority to protect the effect of the reduction in the state charge. The current winter cuts show that this conflict has not been closed, but has reopened through concrete capacity decisions.
For passengers, the key question is whether the reduction in the state charge will really lead to lower total travel costs or whether airports will compensate for it through other items. For airports, meanwhile, the central question is how to finance infrastructure, security, terminal services and investments under conditions of large seasonal fluctuations. Greece is a distinctly tourist market, with very strong summer traffic and weaker winter demand at many destinations. That is precisely why Ryanair insists on the thesis that lower access costs are necessary for the development of year-round connectivity. Fraport Greece and the Athens airport, according to available statements and documents, emphasize that their charges should be viewed within the framework of operating costs, investments and formal consultations with airport users.
Possible consequences for Thessaloniki, Crete and regional connectivity
If the announced cuts are implemented in full, Thessaloniki will lose part of its direct connections to major European markets and to regional destinations that are important for year-round travel in winter 2026. Particularly sensitive is the fact that Zagreb is among the cancelled routes, because Ryanair maintained a direct connection between Thessaloniki and the Croatian capital throughout the year. The cancellation of routes to Berlin, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Venice Treviso and other cities reduces the accessibility of northern Greece outside the summer months. For Crete, it is important that Ryanair is announcing the suspension of winter operations in Chania and Heraklion, which further emphasizes the problem of seasonality. Although other carriers continue to operate on the Greek market, the loss of low-cost capacity may affect prices, route choice and the availability of shorter trips during winter.
Fraport Greece claims that Thessaloniki remains a strong international hub with more than 40 airlines, 93 destinations and connections to 33 countries. Ryanair, on the other hand, claims that its departure from the base is particularly severe because last winter it carried the largest share of international low-cost capacity. These two claims are not necessarily mutually exclusive: an airport can have a broad network of carriers, but at the same time lose a significant share of low-cost winter seats if one large operator withdraws based aircraft. In practice, the consequences will be seen through the concrete winter flight schedule, ticket prices and the availability of alternative flights. At present, it has not been officially confirmed whether negotiations between the carrier, airport operators and Greek institutions will lead to a change in the announced cuts before the start of the winter season.
A conflict that goes beyond one airline
Ryanair's decision comes at a time when European aviation is facing limited aircraft availability, cost pressure, regulatory charges and increasingly pronounced competition among airports for aircraft basing. Low-cost carriers move capacity particularly quickly because their model is based on high fleet utilization, low operating costs and strong incentives for routes that can generate a large number of passengers. If airports judge that they must keep or increase charges for the sake of infrastructure and service, carriers may respond by reducing flight schedules. If airports give way, they may stimulate traffic in the short term, but must also ensure the sustainability of financing. That is why the dispute in Greece fits into the broader European debate about who pays for airport development and how that cost is reflected in the price of air tickets.
For the Greek market, the issue is additionally sensitive because a large share of tourist traffic is concentrated in the summer months. Ryanair claims that lower access costs would help reduce seasonality and create room for new winter routes. Fraport Greece claims that it has already invested in infrastructure and that Ryanair's decisions arise from its own business priorities. Athens International Airport stated in its earlier documents that the adjustment of the terminal charge was designed so that the overall burden for users and passengers would remain stable. From these different positions arises a conflict that will probably continue through regulatory procedures, public pressure and negotiations on winter flight schedules. For passengers and the tourism sector, the most important issue will be whether the announced loss of seats turns into permanently weaker winter connectivity or into a negotiating phase before a new agreement.
Sources:
- Ryanair – official statement on the closure of the Thessaloniki base, capacity reduction and criticism of airport charges (link)
- Fraport Greece – official page on airport charges and documents for 14 regional airports (link)
- GTP Headlines – report on Fraport Greece's response to Ryanair's claims (link)
- eKathimerini – report on Fraport Greece's position and the role of Thessaloniki Airport (link)
- Euronews Travel – overview of the announced cuts, routes and reduction of winter capacity in Greece (link)
- Athens International Airport – decision and explanation of the change to the Passenger Terminal Facility charge after the reduction of the ADF (link)