Ryanair has announced it will cancel all its flights from Maastricht-Aachen Airport at the end of October, blaming the decision on “excessive” cost increases.
The low-cost airline said that from October 26th, it will no longer operate flights from the Dutch airport. This means that once Ryanair leaves, only one airline – Corenden – will offer flights from Maastricht.
Ryanair’s decision will affect five flight routes from Maastricht. The airline currently operates flights from Maastricht to Alicante and Barcelona in Spain, Bari in Italy, Porto in Portugal and Zadar in Croatia.
The company said its decision was prompted by an increase in airport costs at Maastricht Airport. According to the airline, the rising costs make it “one of the most expensive airports in Europe”.
Ryanair’s CCO Jason McGuinness said: “Ryanair is disappointed to announce the removal of all our flights to Maastricht Airport from 26 October 2025, which comes as a result of the Airport’s excessive cost increases and the Dutch Govt’s soaring aviation taxes of almost €30 per passenger, which have increased by +275% since 2021.
“These significant cost increases make Maastricht Airport one of the most expensive airports in Europe and completely uncompetitive compared to other countries and low-cost airports elsewhere in Europe, who are reducing airport costs and abolishing aviation taxes to stimulate traffic recovery and growth.”
A spokesperson for Maastricht Airport said that the rates Ryanair wanted to pay to use the airport were “significantly lower than at other Dutch airports”.
“The fact that the Netherlands has a high government tax on airline tickets, higher than surrounding countries, obviously did not help in bringing the talks with Ryanair to a successful conclusion,” the spokesperson said.
“We have been in intensive discussions with Ryanair over the past months about the conditions under which we could continue the cooperation from the winter season 2025/26. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement.”
Alternative airports for Belgian travellers
Thousands of Belgians, particularly in the eastern part of the country, use Maastricht airport for cheap getaways. From October, their flight options will be more limited.
Corenden will continue to offer flights from Maastricht to two Greek destinations – Crete and Zakynthos – but travellers will have to use alternative airports if they want to go elsewhere.
In Belgium, there are five major airports. In addition to Brussels International Airport, there is Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Antwerp International Airport, Liège Airport and Ostend-Bruges International Airport. Charleroi is a major European hub for Ryanair and it operates dozens of low-cost flights out of the airport.
Many Belgians naturally make use of Belgium’s proximity to other major European countries when taking flights. Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Lille, Luxembourg, Cologne and Düsseldorf airports are easily accessible from Belgium.
