Ryanair will open a new route between Barcelona-El Prat and Poznań, Poland, this winter as part of a Barcelona schedule that holds steady at 53 routes and about 3.6 million seats, even as the airline trims capacity at smaller Spanish airports.
The Irish low-cost carrier set out its 2026-27 winter program for Barcelona on October 9, according to Spanish newspaper El Periódico. The season runs from late October 2026 until the end of March 2027.
A new link to western Poland
The headline addition is Barcelona–Poznań, a route that does not currently exist from El Prat. Ryanair told Spanish media the service will operate three times a week. Booking data reported by Polish travel site jakdofrune.pl showed two weekly flights at launch, starting with the winter schedule at the end of October, so the exact frequency may vary across the season.
The new route lands at El Prat itself, Barcelona's main airport, rather than at Girona or Reus, the more distant airports Ryanair has used in the past to serve the Barcelona market. According to jakdofrune.pl, introductory one-way fares started at 153 Polish złoty.
The Poznań flights are linked to a wider shake-up in Ryanair's Central European network. The airline is closing its Berlin base at the end of October, and aircraft freed up by that move are being redeployed to other markets. Poznań gains a fifth based aircraft as a result, according to the Polish report, and Ryanair's winter network from the city will grow to 26 routes with more than 800,000 seats, up about 12% on last winter. Porto is also being added from Poznań this winter.
More flights on about 20 Barcelona routes
Beyond Poznań, Ryanair is adding frequencies on around 20 existing routes from Barcelona. Venice, Naples, Kraków, Porto and Budapest are among the routes seeing the biggest increases, according to Spanish news site Que.es. Capacity from Barcelona to Poland rises by about 9%, and capacity to Italy by about 31%, Euro Weekly News reported.
Overall, however, the Barcelona operation is flat. The 53 routes and roughly 3.6 million seats match the previous winter. Ryanair keeps 14 aircraft based overnight at El Prat and carries about 9.3 million passengers a year there, El Periódico said, describing Barcelona as its main airport in Spain.
Growth only where demand allows
The flat Barcelona schedule reflects pressures across Ryanair's Spanish business. Higher jet fuel prices and a long-running dispute with Spanish airport operator Aena over airport charges have pushed the carrier to cut flying at smaller regional airports such as Valladolid, Asturias, Vigo, Tenerife North and Jerez.
"We will only grow in Madrid and Málaga because demand allows it," Ryanair spokesperson Alejandra Ruiz told El Periódico. In Madrid, Ryanair is increasing winter capacity by about 6%, adding roughly 200,000 seats for a total of about 3.4 million, according to Euro Weekly News.
Ruiz also told the newspaper that Barcelona would get new routes once the planned expansion of El Prat allows more flights per hour. Until then, the airline says, a shortage of attractive slots limits how far it can grow there.
Vueling still dominates El Prat
Ryanair remains a distant second in Barcelona. Vueling, part of British Airways owner IAG, handles about 40% of the airport's traffic compared with about 16% for Ryanair, according to Que.es. Euro Weekly News noted that Vueling offers almost three times as many seats as Ryanair at the airport this winter.
Vueling has also been adjusting its own Barcelona network this autumn, restoring flights to Madrid and adding seats to the Canary Islands and to Italian cities including Naples, Turin and Palermo.
What it means for travelers
For travelers in Barcelona, the winter schedule means more departure times on popular city-break routes and a first nonstop link to Poznań. For passengers in western Poland, it adds a direct option to Barcelona's main airport and fits into a broader expansion at Poznań driven by aircraft moved from Berlin.
As with any new seasonal route, timings and frequencies can change, and the lowest advertised fares typically apply only to selected dates and exclude checked bags and seat selection.
Comments
Loading comments…