Charleroi taxes will lead to Ryanair cuts in services

Ryanair has confirmed it will reduce operations at Brussels South Charleroi Airport by around 10pc due to a new €3 passenger tax set to take effect from April 2026.

The airline plans to cut 1.1m seats annually from its current total of 10.5m, with some aircraft redeployed to lower-tax locations such as Sweden, Albania, Slovakia, and Italy. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary described the tax as “stupid” and vowed further reductions until it is abolished, warning it damages competitiveness, tourism, and jobs. He also criticised the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme for disadvantaging European carriers and ruled out installing Starlink internet on flights due to fuel cost concerns.

Michael O’Leary shared: “Only the Belgium government could be so silly to raise aviation taxes five-fold, at a time when Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Albania are abolishing their Aviation Taxes. These taxes have failed, and have damaged air travel and tourism in many EU countries, which is why they are being scrapped. In Belgium however, the De Wever Govt seems determined to fail, while others are succeeding. Having enjoyed Ryanair’s low fare growth at Charleroi and Zaventem Airport over the last 20 years, the Govt has now decided to raise aviation Taxes (by 5-fold!!) at a time, when almost all other EU States are abolishing them.

What these silly politicians don’t understand is that aircraft and passengers are mobile. If Belgium wants to tax passengers, then they simply switch to lower cost, non-tax, destinations, like Sweden, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Albania. Belgium’s loss will be to the gain of these lower cost, tax-cutting States.

When the Draghi Report has called on Europe to become more competitive, the De Wever Govt seems determined to make Belgium even less competitive. Raising taxes will deliver fewer flights, less passengers, less tourism, and cost thousands of jobs at both, Zaventem and Charleroi Airports. The solution to this challenge is easy: Scrap these damaging aviation taxes (as many other EU States have), and allow Ryanair to continue to grow, especially at Charleroi, where over the last 20 years, Ryanair has grown to be Belgium’s largest airline. This growth can easily be lost to tax abolishing countries like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia and Italy, and if Charleroi and Belgium don’t reverse these taxes, then Ryanair will cut 1.1m pax in 2026 and another 1.1m in 2027, and we will keep cutting until Belgium’s silly Govt works out that taxing traffic is not the way to grow tourism/jobs, it simply sends them to other lower cost, zero-tax, competitor destinations elsewhere in Europe.”