Ryanair will remove six aircraft from its Belgian operations and cut 20 routes and 1.1 million seats from its winter 2026 schedule, reducing services at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and Brussels South Charleroi Airport. The capacity withdrawal follows Belgium’s planned 250% aviation-tax increase, which will raise the levy from €2 to €7 per passenger on 1 January 2027.
The airline will retain only one route from Zaventem, linking Brussels with Dublin. Destinations listed for closure include Málaga, Barcelona, Rome Fiumicino, Madrid, Porto, Marrakech and Valencia from Zaventem, alongside routes from Charleroi to Amman, Dubrovnik, Nîmes, Genoa, Katowice, Lublin, Newcastle, Asturias, Poznań, Reggio Calabria, Sarajevo, Trapani and Warsaw Modlin.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary announced the reductions in Brussels on Tuesday, directing the decision at the federal government and Prime Minister Bart De Wever. The carrier argued that the higher tax would make Belgium less competitive than lower-cost or tax-free European markets, including Slovakia, Sweden, Hungary and parts of Italy.
The six aircraft represent a claimed investment of $600 million. Ryanair has redirected the aircraft, routes and associated seats to other European markets and warned that further reductions could follow if the tax remains in place. The cuts will reduce the carrier’s Belgian connectivity during the winter season while concentrating its remaining Brussels-area operation at Charleroi, apart from the Dublin service from Zaventem.