The head of Irish ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair has warned that the time of extremely low airfares is over as inflation and fuel costs take their toll.
Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said that the trademark low-cost flights that varied from €1 ($1.44) to €10 ($14.40) would no longer be available.
“There’s no doubt that at the lower end of the marketplace, our really cheap promotional fares – the one euro fares, the €0.99 fares, even the €9.99 fares – I think you will not see those fares for the next number of years,” O’Leary said.
The carrier’s CEO attributed this to inflation surging passenger demands and the tightening squeeze on operational standards across the aviation industry, alongside inflation and fuel costs.
“We think people will continue to fly frequently. But I think people are going to become much more price sensitive and therefore my view of life is that people will trade down in their many millions,” O’Leary said.
Airfares across Europe have jumped by nearly a third compared to 2019 prices.
However, O’Leary has also pointed the finger at the impact of Brexit for the increased airfares.
The Ryanair CEO blamed the outgoing UK prime minister Boris Johnson “and other ambitious idiots” for making the conditions that have hindered UK labour.
“If there was much more honesty, or any honesty, from Boris Johnson’s government, they would come out and admit that Brexit has been a disaster for the free movement of labour and one of the real challenges being faced by the UK economy,” O’Leary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Ryanair has a significantly lower cancellation rate than some of its competitors. The budget carrier cancelled only 0.3 per cent of flights in the first half of this year, compared to British Airways at 3.5 per cent and easyJet at 2.8 per cent.
O’Leary said that his airline tackled the labour crunch better than its competitors as it started recruiting and training cabin and flight crews in November.
