Irish airline Ryanair will cut more than one in five flights in Belgium in response to the Belgian Government’s decision to double aviation tax to €10 per passenger embarkation.
This represents a US$500 million (€429.5million) loss of investment in Belgium and puts “thousands of jobs at risk”, Ryanair warned in a withering press release today.
It means that five Belgium-based aircraft and 20 routes will be given up by the company, 13 in Charleroi and seven in Brussels, leading to a loss of around 1 million passengers for both airports combined.
In November, the Belgian Government under Prime Minister Bart De Wever decided to raise aviation taxes, hoping to generate around €190 million.
Belgium doubled the aviation tax to €10 for every flight starting from winter 2026/27, with the city council of Charleroi wanting an extra tax of €3.
The decision enraged the low-cost airline company, which has for a long time been campaigning against the tax.
Low-cost airline Ryanair said it will end its growth plans in Belgium after the country hiked its aviation tax from €2 to €5 per flight. https://t.co/8a75l4B5QG
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 29, 2025
Ryanair called its move “a result of the Belgian Government’s backward decision to double its harmful aviation tax”, already “hiked up 150 per cent in July”, claiming it “makes Belgium completely uncompetitive compared to other EU markets”.
The company noted that countries such as Sweden, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia all are abolishing their aviation taxes and Germany is revising its decision to increase them.
Ryanair said it wrote to De Wever, transport minister Crucke, Wallonia minister of airports Cécile Neven and the Mayor of Charleroi Thomas Dermine to call for the reversal of the tax increases.
Ryanair’s chief commercial officer Jason McGuinness said if Charleroi added its “ill-judged proposal” of a €3 local tax “these cuts will deepen as Ryanair will be forced to reduce flights, routes and based aircraft at Charleroi from as early as April 2026 with thousands of local jobs at risk”.
“If Prime Minister De Wever and his Government really wanted to revive Belgium’s economy, they should abolish this harmful aviation tax, not double it,” he said.
“Despite so many other EU countries taking this step to support their economies, Belgium is going in the opposite direction, driving up access costs and pushing airlines and tourism elsewhere,” McGuinness added.
“We urge Prime Minister De Wever to scrap this damaging aviation tax before Belgian’s traffic, tourism, jobs, and the wider economy collapse any further.
“Furthermore, the Charleroi city council needs to abandon its lunatic plans to increase taxes driving job losses with the effect of lowering payroll, VAT and corporate tax receipts for the local economy,” McGuinness concluded.
In July, Belgium’s Brussels Airlines warned that a doubling of the aviation tax meant it “lost almost its entire profit margin”, with airlines already facing rising fuel prices, strikes and geopolitical uncertainty.
Brussels Signal reached out to the Belgian Government for a reaction but had not received a reply at the time of publication.
The European Union has actively promoted the introduction of aviation taxes as part of its broader climate and environmental policies, particularly to address the sector’s contributions to CO₂ emissions and to end longstanding tax exemptions on aviation fuel, kerosene.
“Green” organisations and environmental activists and NGOs also pleaded for an aviation tax.
The bloc’s push has primarily come through proposals from the European Commission, support from multiple member states and integration into key legislative packages such as the European Green Deal and Fit for 55.
Implementation, though, has faced challenges due to the need for unanimous agreement among EU countries and the economic consequences of the measure.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has announced it is moving three of its 19 aircraft based at Vienna airport to other countries and will close down three routes from the Austrian capital.https://t.co/YDkC1wrmTD
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 19, 2025
