Traveling by plane will be a little more expensive from now on, ending an era of ultra-low fares and knockdown offers. Ryanair, the main standard of the low cost model in Europe, will raise its average fare by 25% in the next four or five years, going from a price of 40 euros a ticket to 50 euros, the group's CEO, Michael, advanced this Thursday. O'Leary, in a meeting with journalists at the company's headquarters in Dublin. "It is not that we are going to increase prices, it is that we will not make as many cheap offers as before, the average rate will rise somewhat in the coming years but we will continue to be cheaper than the competition," he insisted. The demand for bills less than ten euros may have come to an end.
The rise in fuel prices and general inflation threaten airlines just as they begin to recover from the crisis caused by the pandemic. Ryanair will respond to this new crossroads with increases in the average price of tickets, along the lines of what other airlines have already done, but also by renewing its fleet of aircraft with more efficient models that use less fuel and are larger in size to transport more passengers in a single journey. To do this, they have closed the purchase of 210 Boeing aircraft, of which they have already received 73.
O'Leary has reviewed the summer season, which he has described as exceptional for the company despite open labor disputes in several of its main markets. The manager stressed that Ryanair has increased its capacity compared to 2019 and if the forecasts are met, it will end the fiscal year with 165 million passengers compared to 149 transported three years ago. It will also return to having profits "of about a billion euros." Somewhat less than before the covid, but well above the vast majority of competitors.
The inflationary context does not have to be bad for companies, he continued. O'Leary believes that its growth in the number of routes throughout Europe will help attract travelers from other airlines. In Italy, after the fall of Alitalia and its subsequent reconversion, it has already happened, he pointed out. For winter, demand continues "strong", with good prospects for October and the Christmas holidays.
Regarding the labor conflict in Spain, Ryanair has already signed an agreement to negotiate a collective agreement with CC.OO., but will not negotiate with the other two unions calling the strike. “They are communists and they would like to return to the Soviet era”, he has launched.
