Low-cost carrier Ryanair delivered a bombshell to the Belgian market on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, announcing it will cut 20 routes, remove six based aircraft and slash 1.1 million seats from its winter 2026/27 schedule at Brussels-Zaventem and Brussels South Charleroi Airports. Chief executive Michael O’Leary unveiled the retrenchment at a press conference in Brussels, blaming the Belgian federal government’s decision to raise its passenger tax from €2 to €7 per ticket – a cumulative 250 % increase since 2025 – and warning that further hikes slated for 2027 will prompt even deeper cuts. Operationally, the withdrawal means Ryanair will keep just one Zaventem route (Dublin) this winter and will redeploy six Boeing 737-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft – worth US $600 million – to lower-tax bases elsewhere in Europe. High-frequency city-pair links such as Brussels–Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and Valencia are among those disappearing, while Charleroi loses services to Asturias and several Eastern European destinations. For mobility managers, Ryanair’s pull-back removes precious capacity on key intra-EU business corridors and threatens higher fares on remaining carriers, particularly to Spain and Italy where corporate travel demand is rebounding. Companies with large mobile workforces in Belgium should review preferred-airline agreements and seek fare caps or block-space deals with alternative carriers such as Brussels Airlines, Vueling or Iberia. Longer term, the episode highlights the sensitivity of low-cost capacity to unilateral national levies; global-mobility budgets that rely heavily on LCCs may need dynamic contingency allocations. The Belgian government defends the tax as an environmental measure that nudges passengers toward rail on short sectors, but industry bodies argue the policy simply displaces traffic – and jobs – to neighbouring countries without reducing emissions. O’Leary echoed that critique, calling on Prime Minister Bart De Wever to “scrap this stupid tax before Belgium’s air-travel market collapses.” If no policy reversal emerges, Ryanair hinted that the cuts could become permanent and even expand in summer 2027. Travellers already ticketed on cancelled flights will be notified in the coming days and offered free re-routing or refunds. Mobility teams should proactively contact employees with Brussels-origin itineraries for the November–March season to secure alternatives while inventory remains. Rail links to Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne may absorb some shifting demand but will face capacity pressure if additional airlines follow Ryanair’s lead.
Source: The Brussels Times
