Breathtaking islands known as the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ are about to lose all of their Ryanair flights as the Irish airline continues to cull routes across the continent.
The Irish airline said it would cancel routes to and from the Azores unless a hike in airport taxes and landing charges was reversed.
The volcanic archipelago of nine islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean, is Europe’s westernmost outpost and an autonomous region of Portugal.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has accused the Portuguese government of ‘inaction’ that led to a 120% rise in air traffic control fees.
In November, the low-cost carrier said it intends to cancel all flights from March 29.
If that happens, the cancellations will affect six routes, including London, as well as Brussels, Lisbon, and Porto, which carry around 400,000 passengers collectively.
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According to Ryanair’s commercial director, Jason McGuiness, it has ‘no alternative’ but to end services to the Azores and redeploy aircraft to lower-cost European airports.
The move will end Ryanair’s presence on the islands, including the closure of its operational base in Ponta Delgada.
This leaves British Airways operating the only UK flights, from London Heathrow. Prices start from £113 one-way.
The Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure of the Azores expressed ‘surprise’ at the news and said it contradicts previous positive discussions about investment in the region.
2025 was a big year for Ryanair. The airline announced significant expansion to its winter schedule, especially in the UK, Finland and Italy.
It also unveiled plans to boost passenger numbers and invest more in bases like Shannon, in the west of Ireland.
The regional airport is due to get four new routes for summer 2026: Rome, Warsaw, Poznań and Madrid.
On the other hand, there were challenges. Persistent Boeing delays saw Michael O’Leary slamming the aircraft company’s management for ‘running around like headless chickens’.
The airline’s recent move to phase out physical boarding passes has also been met with backlash.
However, the most controversial announcement was Ryanair’s decision to cut several routes across major destinations such as Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and more.
The move will potentially slash around three million seats, while significantly impacting connections and passenger convenience for smaller cities.
In 2025, Metro spoke to Spanish journalist Víctor Currás about the decision to suspend winter flights to and from his hometown, Vigo, which now has no direct UK connection.
He said: ‘They are hurting my city.’
As it stands, the elimination of routes to the Azores is not yet final.
Local media reports that negotiations will continue until the proposed withdrawal. We have contacted Ryanair for comment.
Why you should visit the Azores
Miles of vertical green fields. Rocky pillars bursting from cerulean ocean. Waterfalls that seem to pour from the sky.
Imagine Disneyland created a world where Avatar meets the prehistoric earth from The Land Before Time, then flashes you through it like a rollercoaster. Now imagine that at ten times the size. That is the landscape that awaits in the Azores, a volcanic archipelago between Portugal and the United States.
Nicknamed the ‘Hawaii of Europe’, this cluster of nine islands is an eco-adventurer’s paradise, with fewer crowds than those who flock to Madeira (also touted as a Hawaii alternative) or Italy’s Dolomites.
As holiday hotspots push back against tourists, the craggy rocks and thermal springs of the ‘Islands of Colours’ remain mercifully unspoilt.
But it won’t stay that way for long.
The Metro Travel team featured The Azores in our 2025 travel calendar, and it was recently named Europe’s number one destination for American travellers, with a 203% increase in flights from North America in July 2024 alone.
Our reporter Jeremy Ullmann went on a once-in-a-lifetime journey across these otherworldly islands last year.
You can read all about it and save his itinerary here.
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