Ryanair has announced the closure of its Thessaloniki base for the 2026 winter season. The base currently serves three of the company’s aircraft. At the same time, the airline also announced a reduction in capacity at Athens Airport for winter 2026, as well as the seasonal closure of its bases in Heraklion and Chania.
According to the company, the decision will result in the loss of 700,000 passenger seats (-45%) and 12 routes during the 2026 winter season.
Specifically, the airline stated that “this devastating loss of connectivity during the low tourist season is the direct result of the excessively uncompetitive charges imposed by the German-managed monopoly of Fraport Greece and Athens Airport.”
According to Ryanair, the Greek government made the right decision by reducing the Airport Development Fee (ADF) by 75% — from €12 to €3 per passenger — starting in November 2024, a move that should have immediately strengthened year-round connectivity and tourism in Greece. However, most Greek airports, especially those managed by Fraport Greece, refused to pass this reduction on to passengers and instead kept the benefit for themselves. Since then, Fraport Greece has continued to increase its charges, which are now more than 66% higher than pre-Covid levels. Likewise, Athens Airport will also increase its fees this winter.
As a result, Greek airports are no longer competitive during the winter and shoulder tourist seasons, when the tourism industry relies more heavily on low-cost airlines. Ryanair says it had no choice but to shift capacity to more competitive countries such as Albania, regional Italy, and Sweden, where airports passed government tax reductions on to passengers.
Ryanair’s reduced winter 2026 schedule in Greece will include:
- Removal of 3 aircraft from its Thessaloniki base (a $300 million investment)
- Reduction of 700,000 seats (-45% compared with winter 2025)
- Cancellation of 12 routes: Thessaloniki to Berlin, Chania, Frankfurt-Hahn, Gothenburg, Heraklion, Niederrhein, Poznań, Stockholm, Venice-Treviso, Zagreb and Athens to Milan-Bergamo as well as Chania to Paphos
- Closure of 2 airport bases during winter operations (Chania and Heraklion)
Ryanair also presented an ambitious growth plan to the Greek government, aiming to increase passenger traffic to 12 million passengers annually (+70%), add 10 additional aircraft (an investment exceeding $1 billion), and launch 50 new routes over the next five years.
However, according to the airline, this plan can only proceed if airport charges are frozen and the 75% ADF reduction is passed on to passengers at all airports. Otherwise, Greece will continue losing investment opportunities, tourism, and passenger traffic growth while Fraport Greece and Athens Airport continue — as Ryanair describes it — the “shameful practice” of withholding this tax reduction benefit.
Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness stated:
“Ryanair regrets announcing the closure of its Thessaloniki base and reductions in Athens for winter 2026, which will result in the loss of 700,000 seats and 12 routes across Greece, as well as the suspension of operations in Chania and Heraklion during the low tourist season. These avoidable cuts in air traffic are the direct result of airports failing to pass on the ADF reduction, particularly in Thessaloniki where the Fraport Greece monopoly has increased charges by more than 66% since 2019.”
“The removal of 3 aircraft, 500,000 seats (-60% compared with winter 2025), and 10 routes from Thessaloniki for winter 2026 will be devastating for the city and region, as Ryanair provided 90% of Thessaloniki’s international low-cost capacity last winter. Unfortunately, there will no longer be low fares for the citizens and visitors of Thessaloniki, and year-round tourism will also suffer. These aircraft will instead be transferred to Albania, regional Italy, and Sweden, where airports passed on the government’s tax reductions — leading to greater connectivity, tourism, and jobs in those regions during winter.”
“There is an opportunity for Greece to secure significant year-round passenger growth. However, this investment can only happen if the German-managed monopoly of Fraport Greece fully passes on the Greek government’s tax reduction from November 2024, enabling airlines such as Ryanair to provide the connectivity needed to reduce Greece’s chronic seasonality.”
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