Ryanair warns UK airports as Rachel Reeves' tax raid feared to impact provincial hubs

Ryanair issued a warning to UK airports after Chancellor increased airline departure taxes in 's Budget last week.

The Irish carrier's CFO Neil Sorahan said it will have to ask airports to slash landing fees to keep Ryanair , with those that fail to do so set to lose services, reports.

Negotiations would be taking place with airports in the months ahead, Sorahan said.

confirmed that from the financial year 2026/27, air passenger duty (APD) will be hiked, adding as much as £2 to the price of an economy ticket on short-haul . Private jet flyers are also set to be hit with a 50 percent increase in APD.

The private jets that fall under this higher rate weigh more than 20 tonnes and can only carry fewer than 19 passengers, but the ministers are seeking consultation on a proposal to extend the scope of the higher rate to all private jets, including business jets, reports.

Passenger duty rates are determined by the distance of the flight and the travel class.

Sorahan warned Stansted, the low-cost airline's largest base, is probably secure, though the rise in departure taxes puts commercial flights at Britain's provincial airports under threat, and that it will be the regions "that will really suffer".

"We will talk to our airport partners," he told The Telegraph. "Those conversations will have to take place. I'd be worried for the UK on the back of this. Everybody has to look at their cost base. If there are better opportunities elsewhere then we will chase them.

"We warned governments that they need to stimulate growth and unfortunately the UK seems to be less keen to do so," Sorahan added.

The CFO, who has been the highest ranking finance professional in the company for a decade, warned to keep hold of services airports will have to accept a hit to their margins on fees and rely on more profitable parts of their business things like accomodation, and hospitality.

"Airports don't make money from landing and handling charges but they do make a lot of money from their shopping mall, their car park, their hotel," he said.

Describing the levy as a "huge backward step", he argued that "having the highest tax in Europe and rising doesn't help the thesis for airlines to operate here" when the government is trying to stimulate growth.

The news comes just days after Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary warned that the firm in the coming year after Reeves laid out Labour's plans for the aviation sector.

O'Leary indicated that Ryanair would have to "review" its flight schedules. The anticipated cuts could see as many as five million fewer passengers passing through UK airports.

Though the £2-per-passenger hike won't be introduced until the year after next, Ryanair says it has to make decisions for the long term.

Smaller UK bases could be at risk of closure as a result of the government's move, though he said this was "too early to call".

Sorahan reassured his own staff that employment at Ryanair should not be at risk as the firm can "rotate people around". The issue, he said, would be in "Tourism and the B&Bs, restaurants, hotels and coffee shops, and the handling companies and others that are dependent on airport traffic", if flights are cut.

Ryanair is also currently facing disruptions to Boeing plane deliveries and said it expects to carry 5 million people fewer than planned in 2025, a development that will only heighten the demand among airports for flights, Sorahan said.

Reeves told the Commons on Wednesday: "Air passenger duty has not kept up with inflation in recent years so we are introducing an adjustment, meaning an increase of no more than £2 for an economy class short-haul flight."

The Treasury has been approached for further comment.