The Airline Association (ALA) has called for a reduction in Spanish airport charges for the next five-year regulatory period, between 2027 and 2031, citing the steady increase in air traffic and airport authority Aena’s good results in recent years. ALA President Javier Gándara explained on Wednesday at a press conference that the consultation period for the third Airport Regulation Document (DORA III) has already begun. This document will regulate the five-year period between 2027 and 2031, during which they will advocate for a downward trend in fees in order to boost traffic growth.
The association considers that lowering airport tariffs does not contravene Aena’s plans to invest 10 billion euros to expand and modernise its airports, especially given the airport operator’s operational efficiency. In addition, Gándara has stressed that the ‘efficiency conditions’ that have made it possible to contain airport charges should be extended, ‘which has led to a virtuous circle so far, enabling Aena to achieve record profits, distribute dividends to its shareholders and increase traffic, which is ’good for everyone”.
However, Aena argues that airport charges are among the most competitive in Europe and will remain so despite the 6.5% increase proposed for 2026, after years of frozen charges. Ryanair, for example, has announced a significant reduction in its presence at Spain’s regional airports, cutting 1.2 million seats in protest at what it describes as the “high fees” charged by airport operator Aena.
The move will see flights to and from Asturias Airport suspended entirely, while the low-cost carrier plans to increase capacity at the country’s larger airports, including Palma, Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga, by 600,000 seats. The reduction adds to a series of cuts already implemented at regional airports. Last summer, Ryanair removed 800,000 seats, and a further one million were scrapped for the current winter season. The total impact between 2025 and 2026 will see three million seats withdrawn from Spain’s smaller airports.
The airline has taken these decisions as part of its plan to reduce its capacity by 41 percent in Spanish regions and 10 percent in the Canary Islands this winter, which will mean the loss of one million seats in winter (two million annually) ‘due to the excessive and uncompetitive airport charges applied by the monopolistic airport operator Aena’.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said during the winter season press conference that these cuts will further harm vulnerable airports and lead to ‘a loss of investment, connectivity, tourism and employment in regional Spain as many routes will become economically unviable’.
Airlines have scheduled 1.5% fewer seats in the Balearics for this coming winter, according to data from the Airline Association (ALA). Across Spain as a whole, 139 million seats are planned for the aforementioned period, which runs from October 2025 to March 2026, representing an increase of 4.7% over the same period last year. According to the association, these ‘good forecasts’ and the positive evolution of traffic throughout the year ‘anticipate the possibility of breaking a new historical record’ this year, although growth is slowing down compared to previous years.
In the summer season, which runs from April to September inclusive, passenger numbers rose to 183 million, 3.6% more than in the same period last year. The president of ALA, Javier Gándara, said on Wednesday at a press conference that this new record would be ‘very positive’, although it is not a goal that is sought ‘in itself’. ‘Having the record indicates that people can continue to enjoy air travel,’ he said.
However, Gándara explained that this trend varies from region to region, with cases such as Andalusia, where the increase is 7.5%, and the Balearics and Galicia, where the decreases are 1.5% and 17%, the latter being particularly affected by Ryanair’s withdrawal from operations, on which he pointed out that ‘any airline has the right to make its own schedule as it sees fit.’
Despite these positive prospects, ALA has identified a number of factors that could affect air traffic in Spain, such as the geopolitical situation and the global economy, as well as other ‘uncertainties’ linked to the aviation sector, such as the fare path to be set in the next DORA III or the resolution of the sanctions imposed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on five low-cost airlines for charging for cabin baggage.
The head of ALA has advocated a downward tariff path for DORA III (2027-2031), in line with the path maintained during much of the two previous regulatory periods, which would cover the 10 billion euros of regulated investment planned for this five-year period and facilitate traffic growth and connectivity.
To this end, Gándara stressed that the ‘efficiency conditions’ that have kept airport tariffs in check in recent years should be extended, which has created a virtuous circle so far, enabling Aena to achieve record profits, distribute dividends to its shareholders and increase traffic.
‘The efficiency conditions that have limited airport charges must be extended over time, as they have proven to be good for everyone,’ he stressed, adding that during these periods, Aena has also achieved record profits. On the other hand, ALA has expressed its concern about the problem caused by the government’s non-payment to airlines that connect the Canary Islands, the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla with the mainland, and which operate inter-island flights, due to subsidies for residents that have not yet been covered by the state.
The Association has warned that this problem ‘is rapidly worsening’ and that between January and August 2025, the amount outstanding to the airlines operating these routes amounted to €700 million, to which must be added the accumulated debts from 2024. ‘We demand that the government find a solution as soon as possible to this worrying problem, which is becoming more acute, aggravating the financial liquidity of these airlines, and with no sign of a solution until a General Budget with sufficient funding for this item is secured,’ said Gándara, who fears that the islands’ air connectivity will be affected if the problem is not resolved.