Ryanair is set to axe hundreds of flights from UK airports, potentially impacting five million passengers. This is in response to the Government’s decision to hike air travel taxes in the Autumn Budget.
CEO Michael O’Leary announced plans to scale back the airline’s UK operations, claiming the budget had “damaged” the country’s growth prospects and “made air travel much more expensive”.
From April 1, 2026, Air Passenger Duty (APD) for short-haul international flights will rise by £2 for economy tickets, with a 50% increase for private jet owners. O’Leary stated that Ryanair would “review” its schedules, warning that the reduction could result in up to five million fewer passengers at UK airports.
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On Friday, he criticised the Government for “damaging tourism and air travel to and from the UK”, saying: “Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s idiotic decision to further raise the UK’s already high air travel taxes will deliver cuts, not growth. This short-sighted tax grab will make air travel much more expensive for ordinary UK families going on holidays abroad and will make the UK a less competitive destination compared to Ireland, Sweden, Hungary and Italy where these Governments are abolishing travel taxes to stimulate traffic, tourism, and jobs growth in their economies.”
Ryanair smashed records with a whopping 20.5 million passengers flying in August, despite profits taking a nosedive by 46% earlier in the year as average ticket prices plummeted around 15% in the quarter to June. Rachel Reeves, announcing the hike in air passenger duty during the Budget, pointed out that the tax hadn’t kept pace with inflation for yonks and that the “adjustment” would only slap an extra £2 on short-haul economy flights.
The Chancellor said in the Commons on Wednesday: “Air passenger duty has not kept up with inflation in recent years so we are introducing an adjustment, meaning an increase of no more than £2 for an economy class short-haul flight.”, reports the Mirror.