Unbeatable pintxos in San Sebastián, jaw-dropping ruins in Rome and gallery-hopping in Paris are all well and good – but sometimes you just want a more laid-back European escape. Scattered across the continent are remote islands with fewer crowds, untouched beaches and serious R&R potential. That’s why the Azores have long been a go-to for in-the-know travellers. The bad news for budget flyers? Getting there is about to get a whole lot harder.
Ryanair has announced it will axe all of its routes to and from the autonomous Portuguese islands, which have been nicknamed the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ owing to their dramatic volcanic landscape, Jurassic Park-style waterfalls and rich greenery. If you’re planning a trip there on a Ryanair plane, you still have a bit of time, as the airline will be ceasing its routes to the archipelago from March 29, 2026. In total, around 400,000 seats will get the chop.
Why has Ryanair done this? Well, the ultra-low cost Irish airline carrier is blaming ‘high airport fees’ set by Ponta Delgada international airport, which is located on the island of São Miguel and operated by French airport company ANA. Ryanair said that airport traffic control charges have soared by 120 percent since the end of the pandemic, while a €2 (£1.75) travel tax has also been introduced.
In a statement, Ryanair’s CCO Jason McGuiness said: ‘We are disappointed that the French airport monopoly ANA continues to raise Portuguese airport fees to line its pockets, at the expense of Portuguese tourism and jobs, particularly on the Portuguese islands.
‘As a direct result of these rising costs, we have been left with no alternative other than to cancel all Azores flights from 29 March 2026 onwards and relocate this capacity to lower cost airports elsewhere in the extensive Ryanair Group network across Europe.’
In response, the Vinci Group, which owns ANA, told The Independent: ‘Ryanair's statement comes as a surprise, and recent talks with the Irish company are aimed at increasing, not reducing, its flight offerings to Ponta Delgada.’ The firm also insisted the airport costs in the Azores were the lowest in its network and hadn’t changed since 2025.
It’s not the first time this year Ryanair has slashed flights. In September, it announced that it was axing one million seats to Spain, blaming the excessive and uncompetitive airport charges implemented by AENA, which is Spain’s airport operator. The airline company also cancelled flights to airports like Rome Fiumicino and Billund in Denmark for similar reasons.
But it’s not all doom and gloom in the world of European plane travel, as many operators are bucking Ryanair’s trend and instead upping their flights. For example, from March 2026, Jet2 revealed it’ll start flying from Gatwick to Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal. And, in the summer, Wizz Air launched a new route from Rome Fiumicino to Birmingham Airport. So, all is not lost.
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