Ryanair will close its Thessaloniki base and reduce capacity at Athens Airport for the 2026 winter season.

This closure will result in:

• 12 routes being cut
• The loss of 700,000 seats
• A 45% reduction in passenger capacity
• Suspension of operations in Chania and Heraklion

Ryanair said these cuts are due to high airport costs and the refusal of Fraport Greece and Athens Airport to pass on government tax cuts.

Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness, said: “Ryanair regrets to announce the closure of our Thessaloniki base and reductions in Athens for Winter ‘26, resulting in the loss of 700,000 seats and 12 routes across Greece, as well as the suspension of operations at Chania and Heraklion during the off-peak months.

“These preventable traffic reductions are a direct result of the airports’ failure to pass through the ADF reduction, particularly in Thessaloniki where the Fraport Greece monopoly have hiked airport charges +66% since 2019.

“The removal of 3 based aircraft, 500,000 seats (-60% vs. Winter ‘25) and 10 routes from Thessaloniki for Winter ‘26 will be devastating for the city and region, as Ryanair provided 90% of international capacity to Thessaloniki last Winter.

“Unfortunately, there will now be less low-cost air fares for Thessaloniki’s citizens and visitors, and year-round tourism will be harmed as a result.

“These aircraft will be reallocated to Albania, regional Italy and Sweden, where airports have passed on their Govt’s aviation tax savings – resulting in more connectivity, tourism and jobs this Winter in those regions.

“There is an opportunity for Greece to secure significant year-round traffic growth however, this investment can only be realised once the German-run Fraport Greece monopoly fully passes through the Greek Govt.’s sensible tax cut from November’24 – allowing airlines such as Ryanair, to deliver the connectivity required to reduce Greece’s chronic seasonality.”

The 12 routes axed by Ryanair following the closure of its Thessaloniki base

The following routes from Thessaloniki will be scrapped this winter, as a result of the Ryanair announcement:

• Berlin (Germany)
• Chania (Greece)
• Frankfurt-H (Germany)
• Gothenburg (Sweden)
• Heraklion (Greece)
• Niederrhein (Germany)
• Poznan (Poland)
• Stockholm (Sweden)
• Venice-T (Italy)
• Zagreb (Croatia)

Routes from Athens to Milan-M and Chania to Paphos have also been cut.

All operations at Chania and Heraklion Airports will also be suspended over the upcoming winter.

Ryanair calls for the new EES to be suspended

Meanwhile, Ryanair has also called for the rollout of the EU’s new entry/exit system (EES) to be suspended.

The new EES, introduced in April, is an IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay (up to 90 days).

Travellers in Europe now have to provide personal data, and have their fingerprints scanned and a photograph taken as part of the system.

The EES has received significant backlash since its introduction.

A total of 122 passengers were reportedly unable to board the flight from Milan Linate to Manchester last month due to delays caused by the EU’s new EES.

The flight was held for 59 minutes before departing, with the majority of seats empty.

Travellers flying in and out of Malta are also experiencing wait times of up to 40 minutes due to the new system, according to the Times of Malta.

As a result, David O’Brien, the CEO of Ryanair’s Malta subsidiary, Malta Air, has threatened to pull all flights from the holiday hotspot.

Now, Ryanair has renewed calls for the introduction of the EES to be suspended until September in another country, Spain.

These latest calls come after passengers travelling to/from Spain over the May Bank Holiday weekend were “made to suffer” through “avoidable” hour-long passport control queues, causing some to miss their flights.

Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, said: “It makes no sense that countries, like Spain, are continuing to implement the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) when they are clearly not ready to do so.

“As a result of this half-baked system roll out, passengers are being forced to endure excessive passport control queues, and in some cases, missing flights.

“This May Bank Holiday weekend alone, passengers travelling to/from Spain were made suffer hour-long passport control queues.

“Ryanair’s average flight time is approximately 1hr 15mins – that means that some passengers are spending as much time waiting at passport control than they spent on the flight that got them there.

“It is completely unacceptable, especially when there is a quick and easy solution already provided for under EU law (EU Reg. 2025/1534) to stop these needless queue times – suspend EES until September when the peak summer travel season has subsided and allow passengers a smoother airport experience for their summer holidays.”

Jet2 has also called for the EU’s new EES to be suspended because of the major disruptions and delays it has caused for Brits travelling abroad.

Greece has delayed its introduction of the EES in an attempt to avoid any disruptions to tourism.

The Greek Embassy previously revealed that as of April 10, all British passport holders are “exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossing points”.

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Sean Woodcock MP is now a parliamentary private secretary (PPS), after Joe Morris, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Tom Rutland, a PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, Cabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan and Melanie Ward, a PPS to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, all quit on Monday evening, May 11.

Department for Work and Pensions aide Gordon McKee and Ms Mahmood’s PPS Sally Jameson also left their posts, having expressed a loss of confidence in the Prime Minister.

This comes amid the biggest leadership crisis of Sir Keir Starmer’s premisership as as Cabinet ministers, including the Home Secretary, reportedly urged him to consider his position.

It has been widely reported, including by the Press Association, that 80 MPs have signed a letter urging Sir Keir to take this step, most of whom have publicly expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership.

This morning, Tuesday, May 12, Starmer has told his Cabinet that the “Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered” and insisted he would continue governing, Downing Street said.

Mr Woodcock’s new role seems like a move to stand with the PM.

The appointment does not see a pay boost for the MP, who will now take on the job of an unpaid assistant to a government minister.

Around 600 members of Unite, including library, museum, estates management, finance, student services and IT staff, are demanding the introduction of a “Cambridge weighting” allowance to address the high cost of living in the city as well as seeking a pay review.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Cambridge University is sitting on billions of pounds, but the workers who keep it running are struggling to keep their heads above water due to the incredibly high cost of living in the city.

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“Oxford University has introduced a local pay supplement to ensure workers can afford to live. Cambridge needs to as well. Unite will not back down until that happens.”

The workers previously took strike action in April and earlier this month, and Unite announced that further strikes will take place on May 13-15, 20-22 and 26-29.

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge said: “We understand the challenges around the cost of living, and have introduced several measures in response, including a supplement of 2.5 per cent of basic pay for employees on lower pay grades, raising the minimum starting salary for research assistants and increasing paid family leave.

“While we regret that the forthcoming industrial action looks set to go ahead, we remain committed to open and constructive dialogue with Unite around pay and other issues.”