Known for his sharp remarks and fiery temper as much as his decades-old career growing what is now Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has repeatedly clashed with politicians, public figures and airport authorities.
Over the last year, the Dublin-based airline launched a “Great Idiots Sale” inspired by Elon Musk while O’Leary also once told Donald Trump that, should he push forward his tariffs on Ireland, the airline would cancel its order of Boeing planes from the U.S. and instead do business with China if the offer “was cheap enough.”
With the airline significantly scaling back its 2026 flight schedule from both Germany and Spain over increased airport taxes, Ryanair classified raised airport fees passed by local politicians as a “shortsighted refusal to promote growth” and a “stupid aviation tax regime.”
Ryanair cuts 12 flights from Greece
The latest dispute entered into by the carrier has been with airport operator Fraport Greece. On May 8, Ryanair announced plans to close down its base at Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) and cancel 12 flights into the country.
“The Greek Government made the wise decision to reduce the Airport Development Fee by 75% (from €12 to €3 per passenger) from November ’24, which should have directly stimulated year-round connectivity and tourism across Greece,” Ryanair said in explaining the decision.
“However, most Greek airports, particularly those run by Fraport Greece, refused to pass the tax cut onto passengers and instead have pocketed the tax cut for themselves. Since then, Fraport Greece have continued to increase charges, which are now +66% above their pre-Covid levels.”
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Ryanair further said that these fee increases have made the ultra-low fares on which the low-cost airline model relies unprofitable to maintain and left it with “no choice but to reallocate capacity to more competitive countries like Albania, regional Italy, and Sweden, where airports have passed on the savings from government tax reductions.”
The specific route cuts include flights from Thessaloniki to Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stockholm, as well as routes between Athens and Milan and Chania and Paphos. As part of the closure of the Thessaloniki base, Ryanair will also remove three Boeing 737 planes stationed at the airport.
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Airport operator hits back at Ryanair accusations
In response to the cancelations and accusations of fee mismanagement, Fraport called O’Leary’s comments “completely unfounded and entirely pretextual.”
The airport operator said that it put over €100 million into upgrading the infrastructure at Thessaloniki Airport and worked with multiple carriers to connect the Macedonia region of northern Greece to more locations in Europe.
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On top of regular network planning, Ryanair has been following almost every other major airline in the world in cutting low-traffic routes to prioritize the use of jet fuel. At the end of April, the carrier also slashed its flights out of Berlin by 50% on top of cuts made in the past year over raised airport fees.
“If oil stays at these levels, two or three European airlines in October or November could go bankrupt,” O’Leary said in an interview with an Italian newspaper in April.
Related: Another airline shuts down for summer, cancels all flights
