The President and Chief Executive Officer of the airport management company Aena, Maurici Lucena, has strongly criticised Ryanair, accusing the airline of employing a communication strategy based on “dishonesty,” “rudeness,” and “extortion” to achieve economic gains following its announcement to cease operations at several airports and reduce the number of flights.
“It is regrettable that Ryanair’s communication and institutional relations policy is guided by hypocrisy, rudeness, and extortion,” Lucena asserts in a statement distributed this Wednesday, in which he accuses the Irish company of “distorting reality” and using intimidation to gain advantages at the expense of taxpayers’ money.
Lucena criticises Ryanair for maintaining a communication policy that is in “permanent and deliberate collision with objective facts and truth,” despite the airline’s “operational excellence.”
The airport management president expresses his “staggering disbelief” at statements made by the airline’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, who claimed in a press conference this morning that “Spain is currently closed to tourism,” despite forecasts suggesting a record of nearly 100 million international tourists by 2025.
A “Insignificant” Increase
The root of the conflict lies in Aena’s proposal to increase airport fees by €0.68 in 2026. This decision, according to the public company, is based on the application of objective mathematical formulas and complies with Law 18/2014, approved by the People’s Party. Aena defends that this increase is “insignificant” for a traveler’s decision, emphasising that Ryanair has raised ticket prices by 21% in the past year.
Moreover, Lucena’s statement refutes several claims made by Ryanair, such as that Aena’s investments are covered by airlines: “Aena finances them entirely with its own money.”
“To assert otherwise is a fallacy equivalent to claiming that the investments made by Ryanair when it acquires aircraft for its fleet are paid for by the passengers purchasing tickets for the Irish airline; or that Inditex’s investments in its factories are financed by citizens buying its garments,” he explains.
He also adds that Ryanair’s multi-billion dollar investments in Boeing aircraft are not investments in Spain, as the manufacturing percentage of these aircraft in the country is less than 3%. “Therefore, these multi-billion dollar aircraft purchases by Ryanair are not investments in Spain,” asserts the manager.
According to Aena, the proposal for zero fees at regional airports, as suggested by Ryanair, is not financially sustainable and is only feasible if subsidised with public money. The airport manager reiterates that its fees are the most competitive in Europe.
“Abundant empirical evidence demonstrates that the free availability of airport infrastructure and services at regional airports is only possible if, instead of being paid for by Ryanair, they are financed by Spanish taxpayers through subsidies from the Spanish government, regional governments, and municipalities,” argues Lucena.
In this regard, he states that “Ryanair is notorious among mayors and regional government councillors for its constant underhanded efforts in pursuit of public money to finance its flights at regional airports.”
Thus, Maurici Lucena accuses Ryanair of holding a “plutocratic conception of the political system” by attempting to pressure governments across Europe for its own gain. According to the manager, the airline has threatened authorities in Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK in 2024 and 2025.
Lucena explains in his statement that another indication of Ryanair’s “true priorities” and those of its executives is the “astronomical bonus” of over €100 million that Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary is set to receive based on the achievement of specific targets and his continued presence at the company.
The statement suggests that Ryanair’s true interest is not the welfare of citizens, but “to earn more money, even if it comes out of the pockets of Spanish taxpayers.”
As evidence, Lucena points to Eddie Wilson’s “phenomenal reputational slip” in praising Castellón airport, which lost €11.6 million in 2023, funded by the citizens of the Valencia Community.
Lucena concludes that, while benefiting from Ryanair’s “operational quality and efficiency,” the Irish airline has attempted to transform a relationship of “symbiosis” into one of “vassalage,” something that the public company “will never accept,” as it would severely undermine the functioning of the Spanish airport system.
“Spain cannot design its airport system based on the spurious and selfish interests of a single airline,” Lucena asserts in the statement, defending the current network model, which, thanks to economic solidarity among airports, allows for territorial cohesiveness without resorting to public money.
“Distorted” Figures
Additionally, he deems Ryanair’s statistical methodology in its press conference to be “unacceptable” for “distorting real figures and inflating its message.” The airport manager thus asserts that the number of slots for the winter season formally requested by Ryanair, which are recorded in official databases (i.e., their schedule), is significantly higher than the figures communicated today by Ryanair during its press conference. “It is urgent for Ryanair to clarify this quantitative discrepancy,” Aena demands.
Maurici Lucena firmly asserts in his statement that “if Spanish airports were to evolve in accordance with Ryanair’s demands, whining, deception, and its unbearable extortion strategy, they would, in the medium to long term, cease to function well (as they currently do) and would not be financially sustainable.”
“Aena and its shareholders (the State, that is, Spanish citizens, and private investors) deserve, at least, the same respect as Ryanair’s shareholders,” concludes Maurici Lucena.
