Ryanair plans to reduce its capacity in Belgium by 1.1 million seats and remove six aircraft from its Belgian operations with cuts affecting airports in Brussels Charleroi and Brussels Zaventem.
According to Belgian media reports, the routes affected include flights from Charleroi to Poland's Katowice, Łódź, Poznań and Warsaw-Modlin.
At Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Ryanair will retain just one route, connecting the Belgian capital with Dublin.
The decision comes ahead of an increase in Belgium’s aviation tax from EUR 2 to EUR 7 per ticket on January 1, a rise of 250 percent.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary accused the government of Prime Minister Bart De Wever of undermining the competitiveness of Belgian airports.
He argued that higher charges would lead to passengers, routes and investment shifting to countries where airlines face lower operating costs.
The Ryanair chief pointed to Sweden, Italy and Slovakia as examples of countries that, according to him, have abandoned aviation taxes.
O’Leary also presented a seven-year growth proposal for Belgium, saying Ryanair could introduce 100 new routes if the government reversed its taxation policy.
According to the CEO, such an expansion could create 1,000 jobs.
Ryanair did not specify in its announcement the exact dates on which individual routes to Poland would be discontinued.
(pg/gs)