**Ryanair** continues its confrontation with **Fraport Greece**, the operator of Thessaloniki airport, following the announcement that it will close its base in Greece’s second-largest city from autumn 2026. The low-cost airline has announced it will withdraw the three aircraft it maintains in Thessaloniki during the 2026-2027 winter period, reducing available seats in the city by approximately 500,000. In a new statement, Ryanair returns with sharp criticism against Fraport Greece, speaking of monopolistic practices and claiming that the company’s response issued on May 8 “demonstrates how out of touch the German-interest airport operator is with reality.”
**Read: Ryanair: “Unfounded and pretextual claims,” says Fraport about the Thessaloniki base closure**
Ryanair’s decision to close its three-aircraft base in Thessaloniki for the winter period of 2026 is exclusively due to Fraport’s decision to increase airport fees by an excessive percentage of +66% after the pandemic.
## Ryanair: Fraport Greece has made the Greek aviation market uncompetitive compared to other European countries
More recently, instead of passing on to all airlines and passengers the Greek government’s decision to reduce the Airport Development Fee by 75%, aimed at enhancing connectivity and tourism throughout the year in Greece, monopolistic Fraport chose to “harvest” this reduction for the benefit of its German shareholders. According to Ryanair, Fraport Greece has made the Greek aviation market uncompetitive compared to other European countries, such as Albania, regional Italy, Slovakia and Sweden, which are actively reducing airport fees and eliminating taxes to support passenger traffic, tourism and employment development.
Ryanair notes that it “wishes to develop further in Greece, as happens in other more competitive European markets, however this can only happen if Fraport Greece ‘freezes’ airport fee increases and transfers the 75% reduction of the Airport Development Fee to airlines and passengers, so that capacity and investments are enhanced, instead of—as it states—increasing the profits of its German shareholders.” Ryanair also calls on the Greek government to break Fraport Greece’s monopoly, arguing that this would enhance competition in the Greek aviation market.
