Budget airline Ryanair is cancelling all flights from Maastricht Aachen airport from October 26, citing “excessive” increases in costs.

In addition, the airline blamed the Dutch government’s “soaring aviation taxes of almost €30 per passenger”, which it said have increased by 275% since 2021.

“These significant cost increases make Maastricht airport one of the most expensive airports in Europe and completely uncompetitive compared to other countries and low-cost airports elsewhere in Europe,” chief operating officer Jason McGuinness said in a statement.

Ryanair currently offers services from Maastricht to five destinations: Alicante, Girona, Bari, Porto and Zadar in Croatia. All but the Alicante service are summer season only. Corendon is the only other airline offering summer holiday flights from Maastricht.

The airport said in a statement that its goal is to achieve a break-even operating result by 2027.

“This means we focus on activities and contracts (for both cargo and passengers) that are profitable and can cover our costs with a healthy margin,” the statement said. “This is not the case with the rates Ryanair is willing to pay at Maastricht Aachen Airport, which are significantly lower than at other Dutch airports.”

The airport also said the high tax on airline tickets “has of course not helped to bring the talks with Ryanair to a successful conclusion.”

Schiphol airport group took a 40% stake in Maastricht Aachen Airport for €4.2 million in 2022. The rest of the shares are owned by Limburg province.

The airport, the only other cargo airport in the Netherlands, was nearly closed down that summer because it was in poor financial shape.