Azores Flight Cuts To Hit Budget Routes In March 2026

Published on Nov 25, 2025, 10:59 am CST

7 min read

Key points

Ryanair Azores flight cuts from March 29, 2026 would end all of the airline's routes to the islands
Six routes and around 400000 seats a year are at stake between the Azores and London, Brussels, Lisbon, Porto and other cities
Ryanair blames rising airport fees, higher air traffic control charges, a €2 travel tax and EU emissions rules for making the routes unviable
Airport operator ANA and Vinci say Azores fees are the lowest in their network and unchanged for 2025 with no increases proposed for 2026
Other airlines such as Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and Transavia still link the islands to Europe and North America, but fares may rise if low cost capacity shrinks
Travelers planning Azores trips for summer 2026 should watch negotiations, book flexible tickets and price alternatives via Lisbon, Porto and other hubs

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Travelers using Ryanair to reach São Miguel, Terceira and other Azores islands from London, Brussels, Lisbon and Porto face the biggest risk of losing nonstop low cost options
Best Times To Travel: Trips departing before late March 2026 are least affected, while summer 2026 and later itineraries will require more careful carrier and routing choices
Connections And Misconnect Risk: More trips will likely route via Lisbon or Porto on TAP Air Portugal or Azores Airlines, so travelers should leave longer connection buffers and avoid separate tickets
Price And Availability Outlook: With roughly 400000 low fare seats at risk, average prices on peak summer dates are likely to rise unless other airlines add comparable capacity
What Travelers Should Do Now: Anyone eyeing an Azores trip after March 29, 2026 should track the Ryanair ANA dispute, compare fares across airlines and consider booking flexible or refundable options

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Ryanair Azores flight cuts starting March 29, 2026 will end low cost links between the islands and cities such as London, Brussels, Lisbon and Porto, removing six routes and about 400,000 seats a year if the plan goes ahead. The announcement puts budget travelers and diaspora communities that rely on cheap point to point flights on notice that their options may shrink within 18 months. While nothing changes for trips already booked through winter 2025 to 2026, anyone planning a summer island escape will need to watch negotiations closely and start comparing alternatives.

At its core, the change is simple, Ryanair says it will close its entire Azores network from March 29, 2026 because airport fees, air traffic control charges and environmental taxes have, in its view, made the routes uneconomic, and it intends to redeploy aircraft to cheaper airports elsewhere in Europe.

Ryanair announced the move on November 20, 2025, saying that all flights to and from the Azores will stop from the start of the summer 2026 schedule. The cuts cover six routes that currently link the archipelago with London Stansted, Brussels Charleroi, Lisbon, Porto and other mainland cities, and the airline estimates that around 400,000 annual passengers would be affected. After roughly a decade of year round operations through João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada and other island airports, Ryanair would no longer serve one of Europe's most remote regions.

In its statement, the carrier put most of the blame on ANA, the Portuguese airport operator owned by France based Vinci, describing it as a "French airport monopoly" and arguing that Portuguese airport fees have risen by up to 35 percent since the pandemic. Ryanair also highlighted a 120 percent post Covid increase in Portuguese air traffic control charges and the introduction of a €2 per passenger travel tax. On top of that, the airline again criticized the way the European Union's Emissions Trading System, or ETS, applies to intra European flights but not to many long haul services, which Ryanair says disadvantages remote regions such as the Azores.

Airport operator ANA and Vinci strongly dispute that narrative. In comments to several outlets, the group said airport fees in the Azores are actually the lowest in its network, remain unchanged for 2025 and, crucially for this dispute, that no fee increases have been proposed for 2026. ANA added that it was in talks with Ryanair to grow, not shrink, the Ponta Delgada operation and that it continues to work with the Azores regional government and tourism bodies to safeguard air connectivity, pointing out that routes Ryanair flies are also served by Azores Airlines and TAP Air Portugal.

Background, how Azores air links work today

The Azores sit in the mid Atlantic, roughly halfway between Europe and North America, and depend heavily on air links for tourism, trade and visiting family. João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada, managed by ANA, is the busiest airport in the archipelago and a base for Azores Airlines and Ryanair, with domestic links to Lisbon, Porto and other islands, as well as seasonal and year round flights to cities in Europe and North America.

Even without Ryanair, the islands are not cut off. Azores Airlines operates year round flights between several islands and cities such as Lisbon, Porto, Toronto and Boston, with seasonal services to other North American and European destinations. TAP Air Portugal runs frequent nonstop services from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada and Terceira, and connects the islands into its wider long haul network. Low cost carrier Transavia and leisure airlines such as TUI also offer flights from cities including Amsterdam and some German hubs.

Ryanair's role has been to inject large blocks of low fare capacity on a small set of high demand routes, especially between the Azores and mainland Portugal, London and Brussels. Those seats help keep prices in check during peak periods and give budget travelers a nonstop option from key European gateways.

Part of a wider Ryanair cost fight

The Azores exit is not happening in isolation. It comes on the heels of a series of Ryanair cuts tied to local taxes and airport fees across Europe, including capacity reductions or base closures at airports in Spain, France, Denmark and Germany. In Spain, Ryanair has already announced winter suspensions for routes to Vigo, Santiago de Compostela and Tenerife North, citing higher charges from Aena, the state controlled airport operator. In France, the airline is withdrawing from regional airports such as Bergerac, Brive and Strasbourg, and it has trimmed parts of its German network as well.

For travelers, the pattern matters because it suggests Ryanair is willing to walk away from smaller or cost sensitive markets if it thinks it can earn better returns elsewhere, rather than absorbing higher local charges. That makes politically remote destinations like the Azores especially vulnerable, because they rely on a small number of carriers and have limited leverage over airport operators and regulators.

What this means if you have an Azores trip in mind

In the short term, nothing changes. Ryanair continues to sell and operate Azores flights through winter 2025 to 2026, and those flights should run as planned under existing schedules. The proposed withdrawal kicks in from March 29, 2026, which is when the airline would pull its aircraft and staff from the islands unless there is a political or commercial compromise.

If you are planning an Azores trip for summer 2026 or later, the main practical changes are likely to be fewer nonstop low fare options from certain cities and more reliance on connections via Lisbon, Porto or other hubs. That means schedules may involve an extra stop, slightly longer travel times and, in many cases, higher average fares, especially in school holidays or peak hiking and whale watching seasons.

Other airlines could respond by adding capacity, as they have when Ryanair reduced routes in Spain and other markets, but those decisions usually depend on aircraft availability and local incentives, and none have announced Azores increases yet. ANA and the Azores government say they are working with carriers including Azores Airlines and TAP Air Portugal to preserve connectivity, which could lead to more frequencies or new routes if the Ryanair exit goes ahead.

For travelers, a few practical steps can reduce the risk of disruption. First, avoid stitching together separate tickets for Azores trips after March 2026, particularly when connecting via Lisbon or Porto, because a delay on one airline will not automatically protect you on the next. Second, consider refundable or changeable fares, or at least tickets with reasonable rebooking terms, in case new carriers or schedules emerge closer to departure. Third, keep an eye on official announcements from Ryanair, ANA and the Azores regional government, since ongoing talks mean the final outcome is not completely fixed.

If you prefer to lock in plans now, look beyond Ryanair and price options on Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and Transavia, including itineraries that combine a transatlantic leg into Lisbon or Porto with a separate ticket onward to Ponta Delgada or Terceira on an Azores based carrier. Build in at least three hours for any self made connection, especially in the busy summer season, to allow for flight delays, queues and luggage transfer.

Over the longer term, the Azores will likely stay on the map as a niche, nature focused destination, but the balance may tilt slightly away from ultra cheap weekend breaks toward longer, more deliberate trips that support the islands' limited infrastructure. Travelers who understand the evolving airline landscape and plan around it should still be able to reach the archipelago, just with a bit more planning and a closer eye on fares and schedules than in the past decade of Ryanair driven growth.