Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary accused ANA in Lisbon today of increasing airport fees to fund the new airport in Alcochete.
“ANA is talking about raising airport costs to fund Alcochete,” he said.
O’Leary accused the company of “asking passengers in Porto and Lisbon to start paying high costs” so that ANA can build “an airport that passengers will not use until 2037.”
The CEO criticized ANA for raising airport fees and argued that passengers in Europe “only pay for a facility when they are using it.”
The Government had already questioned the validity of ANA’s proposal to increase airport fees from 2026 to finance the construction of Lisbon’s new airport, according to Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz.
“In the letter we sent to ANA, [increasing fees in 2026] is one of the components we question, including its validity,” the minister stated earlier this year, during a parliamentary committee hearing on Economy, Public Works, and Housing.
According to ANA’s proposal, the new infrastructure should be ready between 2036 and 2037.
Regarding Spain, Michael O’Leary mentioned that in the next two years, Aena, the company operating airports in Spain, would recognize Ryanair’s position and reach an agreement regarding fees at Spanish regional airports.
“I think it will take a year or two, and even Aena will realize they need to move from their current position,” he said.
The CEO claims that Spain maintains very high fees at regional airports and will therefore reduce operations in the country by about 16%.
Overall, the low-cost airline will cut nearly two million seats on flights in Spain by 2025, reallocating them to destinations like Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, or Sweden.
In the summer, the company had already stopped flying to Valladolid and Jerez and will keep operations closed at these two airports.
Despite the overall cuts, particularly in regional airports, Ryanair intends to increase capacity at larger airports in Spain, such as Madrid and Barcelona.
