Ryanair cuts 20 Belgian routes and 1.1 million seats from winter schedule

Low-cost airline Ryanair is reducing its upcoming winter flight schedule in Belgium due to the increase in the country’s aviation tax, the company’s chief executive Michael O'Leary has announced.

A total of 20 routes and 1.1 million seats are being cut from flights operating out of Brussels South Charleroi and Brussels Airport at Zaventem.

The airline also confirmed that it will withdraw six aircraft from the country as early as next week.

From November, Ryanair will retain only one route from Brussels Airport in Zaventem: its service to Dublin, the Irish capital.

O’Leary blamed Belgium’s increase in aviation tax from €2 in January 2025 to €7 in January 2027, a rise of 250%, reports RTBF.

“Taxing air travel does not generate growth; it merely shifts it elsewhere,” said the airline boss.

The notoriously outspoken chief executive described the tax hike as a “failed and stupid initiative by prime minister Bart De Wever.”

O'Leary pointed to countries such as Sweden, Italy, and Slovakia — nations that, according to him, have abandoned taxing aviation.

He also presented a seven-year growth plan, noting that if Belgium were to reverse this taxation policy, Ryanair would consider launching 100 new destinations in the country — a move he claims would create 1,000 jobs.

It was over the summer that Ryanair first threatened to withdraw five aircraft based at Charleroi Airport from the upcoming winter schedule — reducing its capacity in Belgium by two million seat — in response to the planned increase in tax on airline tickets.

The federal government had initially proposed a €10 tax on airline tickets from 1 January, 2027, but then reduced it to €7 following O’Leary’s threats.

Full list of cancelled flights from Ryanair’s 2026/2027 schedule

Malaga – Brussels-Zaventem

Barcelona – Brussels-Zaventem

Brussels-Zaventem – Rome-Fiumicino

Brussels-Zaventem – Madrid

Brussels-Zaventem – Porto

Brussels-Zaventem – Marrakech

Brussels-Zaventem – Valencia

Amman – Brussels-Charleroi

Brussels-Charleroi – Dubrovnik

Brussels-Charleroi – Nîmes

Brussels-Charleroi – Genoa

Brussels-Charleroi – Katowice

Brussels-Charleroi – Lublin

Brussels-Charleroi – Newcastle

Brussels-Charleroi – Asturias (Oviedo)

Brussels-Charleroi – Poznań

Brussels-Charleroi – Reggio Calabria

Brussels-Charleroi – Sarajevo

Brussels-Charleroi – Trapani

Brussels-Charleroi – Warsaw-Modlin

Photo: ©Ryanair