Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has dropped eight of its routes from its Budapest roster over the imposition of what its chief executive Michael O’Leary called the “stupid and illogical” decision of the Hungarian government to impose a new departure tax.

Ryanair has been vocal since the tax was announced in late May, demanding that it be scrapped, but Viktor Orbán’s government insists it is part of efforts to fight inflation. Earlier this month, the budget carrier said it would appeal to the courts of the European Union after Hungary fined it HUF300 million forints (USD750,000) for passing the costs on to passengers.

The new levy involves a tax of EUR10 to EUR25 euros (USD10.50-26.50) per passenger departing Hungary and came into effect on July 1. For bookings made after June 30, Ryanair has included HUF3,900 (USD9.75) in the price.

The eight route casualties - to be imposed at the start of the coming Winter 22/23 season - are to Bordeaux Mérignac, Bournemouth, Cologne/Bonn, Kaunas International, Kraków John Paul II International, Lappeenranta, Riga, and Turin Caselle, Ryanair said in a statement on its website. A further seven routes will have their frequencies cut, to Amman Queen Alia, Bristol International, Pisa, Prague Václav Havel, Sofia, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion, and Warsaw Chopin.

It branded as “bizarre” and “idiotic” this excess profits tax on airlines - companies that have been “reporting record losses due to Covid.” The tax “is already damaging Hungarian tourism, connectivity, traffic, and jobs - as evidenced by these latest winter cuts,” it said.

“We regret these route and flight cuts which are caused solely by the stupid and illogical decision of the Hungarian govt to impose an 'excess profits' on the loss-making airline industry, which now makes flying to/from Hungary more expensive and less competitive,” O’Leary commented in the statement. “These routes and flights will be switched to other lower-cost neighbouring countries like Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, and Romania.”

He added that all Hungarian passengers affected by the route closures and frequency cuts will receive email notifications in the coming days offering refunds or alternative flights.

According to the ch-aviation capacities module, Ryanair currently operates 61 routes from Hungary, all of them from Budapest. By the week starting October 31, this reduces to 53. Its subsidiary Buzz (Poland) is one of three passenger carriers operating a crew base there, the others being Smartwings (Hungary) and Wizz Air.