Low-cost carrier Ryanair is closing its base at Thessaloniki Airport this winter. Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness said the reason out loud - a fight with operator Fraport over dramatically inflated annual fees, now 66 percent above pre-pandemic levels. Fraport replied that the decision is purely commercial and has nothing to do with the charges.

The numbers behind it are heavy. Around 700,000 seats are vanishing from 12 Greek routes. The aircraft are being moved to Albania, Italy and Sweden. About 100 jobs at the Thessaloniki base may be affected, though McGuinness wouldn't confirm details about staff.

This is the same playbook Ryanair has run before. When Berlin hiked airport taxes and duties, the Irish carrier shut its bases there. Germany now pays in flight prices, and Greece is the next country about to feel the economic cost of its own policy.

For Balkan travellers, this isn't just somebody else's news. Albania is getting new Ryanair routes that didn't exist before - Tirana airport, Vlora, possibly more destinations. That means cheaper flights to Albania, and indirectly, possibly new alternatives for passengers from Macedonia. Skopjeans who used to drive to Thessaloniki for more flight options now have one more reason to drive south to Albania instead.

The question for the Greek authorities is plain. When a carrier with 95 bases across Europe suddenly decides your country isn't worth it any more, that isn't an incident - it's a signal. And the question that gets asked after every corporate decision: how big an economic cost will everyone pay for the few percentage points of fees Fraport refused to give up?