Ryanair Cuts Aircraft and Routes from Vienna Winter 2025 Schedule Amid Rising Taxes and Fees
Ryanair, widely recognized as Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, has announced a significant reduction in its Vienna operations for the upcoming Winter 2025 season. On Wednesday, September 17, the airline confirmed that it will withdraw three of its based aircraft from Vienna International Airport and discontinue three routes — Billund in Denmark, Santander in Spain, and Tallinn in Estonia.
This decision, Ryanair stated, is not rooted in demand weakness but rather in what the carrier describes as Austria’s increasingly uncompetitive aviation cost environment. The two central factors are the €12 Austrian Aviation Tax, which Ryanair characterizes as punitive, and Vienna Airport’s sharply rising fees, which have increased by approximately 30% since the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Ryanair, these charges are making Austria less attractive compared to other European markets that have either reduced or eliminated similar taxes to stimulate traffic recovery and tourism.
Post-Covid Aviation Costs and Competitiveness Challenges
Although Ryanair has expanded aggressively in Austria since the pandemic, recording more than 160% growth in capacity, Austrian air traffic overall has lagged behind full recovery. Current traffic remains at roughly 98% of pre-pandemic levels, leaving Austria among the slower-to-rebound markets in Europe.
Ryanair argues that this underperformance is largely due to the high cost of accessing Austria through Vienna. While other EU states, such as Sweden, Hungary, and regional airports in Italy, have actively reduced costs to encourage growth, Austria has taken the opposite approach, maintaining or even increasing levies on airlines. The carrier claims this is undermining Austria’s appeal as a tourism destination and putting at risk thousands of jobs tied to travel and hospitality.
The airline emphasized that such costs are ultimately passed on to consumers, raising ticket prices and discouraging visitors. At a time when many neighboring countries are prioritizing affordability to stimulate demand, Austria risks being left behind.
Impact on Vienna Operations
The immediate outcome of these policy choices, Ryanair states, will be a smaller base in Vienna this winter. The removal of three aircraft from the city means fewer connections, particularly for leisure destinations that rely on cost-sensitive travelers.
The three discontinued routes — Billund, Santander, and Tallinn — illustrate the broad impact of cost-driven retrenchment. Each of these cities is a secondary market, where affordability and route viability depend heavily on low-cost airline operations. Their closure reflects Ryanair’s assertion that Vienna is becoming unviable for marginal but important connectivity.
This reduction also represents a blow to Vienna’s standing as a regional hub. Ryanair has consistently marketed itself as a growth partner for airports willing to maintain competitive fee structures, and its decision to scale back in Austria sends a strong signal to policymakers.
Broader Economic Concerns
Beyond the airline’s own operations, Ryanair argues that Austria as a whole stands to lose from current aviation policy. Tourism is a critical component of the Austrian economy, supporting hotels, restaurants, ski resorts, cultural attractions, and seasonal employment.
According to Ryanair, higher fees and the €12 aviation tax place unnecessary pressure on inbound tourism flows. Travelers comparing costs may opt for destinations in countries with more favorable travel policies, such as Hungary or Italy, which have actively eliminated similar taxes. This creates a ripple effect: not only do airlines like Ryanair reduce capacity, but the resulting decline in visitors affects the broader economy.
The airline also warns of potential job losses linked to reduced aviation activity. While the immediate cuts involve Ryanair’s own crews and operations, the larger impact extends across the tourism sector, where every inbound flight contributes to spending and employment.
Ryanair’s Proposed Growth Plan for Austria
While the short-term picture is contraction, Ryanair continues to insist that Austria could become a major growth market — but only if the government changes its approach to aviation taxation and airport fees. The airline has presented an ambitious $1 billion growth proposal contingent on the abolition of the €12 tax and reductions in Vienna airport fees.
Under this proposal, Ryanair would expand traffic to 12 million passengers annually, representing growth of roughly 70% compared to current levels. To achieve this, the carrier has committed to basing 10 additional “Next-Generation” Boeing 737-8-200 aircraft in Vienna by 2030.
These aircraft, Ryanair notes, offer significant environmental advantages compared to older models, including 16% lower fuel burn and 40% reduced noise emissions. By highlighting sustainability improvements, Ryanair is also positioning itself as a partner aligned with broader European decarbonization goals, countering arguments that lower fees necessarily conflict with environmental policy.
In addition to fleet expansion, Ryanair has pledged to launch over 40 new routes, many of them serving regional Austrian airports. This decentralization of growth would help spread the benefits of increased traffic across the country, rather than concentrating them solely in Vienna.
The proposal also outlines the creation of more than 300 highly paid jobs for pilots, cabin crew, and engineers, with more than 1,000 total new positions expected once tourism and indirect employment are factored in. Ryanair presents this as a realistic opportunity to strengthen Austria’s role in European aviation, but insists it hinges entirely on the removal of what it calls harmful and anti-competitive taxes.
Competitive Pressures in the Austrian Market
Another dynamic influencing Ryanair’s position is the behavior of competing airlines. Over recent months, carriers such as Lufthansa and Wizz Air have also scaled back their Austrian networks, citing high operating costs and limited profitability. For Ryanair, this reinforces the argument that Austria risks becoming a shrinking market rather than a growing one.
At the same time, Ryanair sees an opening. If fees were reduced and taxes eliminated, the airline argues it could fill the gap left by retreating competitors, bringing in passengers who might otherwise bypass Austria altogether. With its low-cost model and scale, Ryanair considers itself uniquely positioned to step in and rapidly increase capacity if the environment becomes favorable.
Policy Debate: Taxes, Fees, and Future Growth
The core of the issue is a broader policy debate on how Austria balances revenue from aviation charges with the long-term economic benefits of connectivity. Proponents of the €12 tax and higher fees may argue that these are necessary to fund infrastructure, environmental initiatives, or general public revenue. Ryanair and its supporters counter that such levies are self-defeating, suppressing traffic volumes and ultimately reducing overall economic activity.
The contrasting examples of Sweden, Hungary, and Italy are central to Ryanair’s case. Each of these countries has either reduced or abolished aviation taxes, and in doing so has recorded faster rebounds in air traffic and tourism post-pandemic. Ryanair warns that Austria’s reluctance to follow suit will leave it isolated in a highly competitive European market.
The immediate effect of Ryanair’s decision will be a smaller Vienna operation this winter, with passengers in Billund, Santander, and Tallinn losing direct connectivity. For Austria, however, the longer-term question is whether this marks the beginning of a broader trend of retrenchment by low-cost carriers.
Ryanair’s growth proposal remains on the table, but its implementation is conditional. Unless the Austrian government moves to abolish the €12 aviation tax and encourage Vienna Airport to roll back its post-Covid fee increases, the airline has made clear it will not commit further capital to the country.
The coming months may therefore prove decisive. If policymakers seek to prioritize aviation competitiveness, Austria could see renewed growth, greater tourism inflows, and new jobs. If not, the reduction announced for Winter 2025 could foreshadow deeper cuts in the years ahead.