Low-cost airline Ryanair is reducing its presence at Budapest Airport in the 2022/23 winter flight schedule. Some routes will be or remain temporarily suspended. The carrier is in a dispute with the Hungarian government over a special tax that airlines have to pay.

After the first announcement of the controversial taxation of profits made by airlines from Hungary, the low-cost company threatened that capacity could be withdrawn. In the 2022/23 winter flight schedule, facts are being created for the time being and operations at the Budapest base operated by the Polish subsidiary are being reduced.

According to the current planning status, the destinations Cologne/Bonn, Bordeaux, Kraków, Kaunas, Bournemouth, Riga, Turin and Lappeenranta will be or will remain temporarily suspended for the 2022/23 winter timetable period. Only recently imposed the Hungarian Consumer Protection Office a hefty fine via Ryanair, because the carrier will charge the passengers due to the special tax later asked to pay. The airline plans to appeal against the fine.

Competitor Wizz Air Hungary is also reducing frequencies on numerous routes in the 2022/23 winter timetable. Many routes will be temporarily suspended and are scheduled to be reactivated in summer 2023. A similar picture emerges in the reservation system at Ryanair. In the aviation industry, it is expected that demand in the 2022/23 winter flight schedule could be significantly lower than in summer 2022 due to high fuel prices and thus rising ticket costs, but also due to possible new corona measures. A manager at a European airline told Aviation.Direct that they were preparing for a "tough winter".