LOW-COST flight firm Ryanair has announced it will slash 36 routes in Spain and reduce the frequency of another 78 due to a forthcoming rise in airport taxes.

Many of these will be in the Canary Islands due to the regional government's alleged 'breach of agreement' in 'failing to promote budget air travel and tourism', according to Ryanair's chief executive officer Michael O'Leary.

A total of 2,300 jobs and 2.2 million passengers will be lost as a result of the latest decision.

Flights between Madrid and Manchester, Girona and Frankfurt will no longer run, and those between Barcelona and Tieste and Hamburg, among others, will be scrapped.

A further 24 Madrid routes and 22 Barcelona routes will be heavily reduced in frequency.

Those affecting Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria are predominantly routes connecting the islands with the mainland.