Families could have to pay another £94 for their summer holiday this year after the Ryanair chief executive warned of ticket price hikes due to a lack of planes.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said that the limited number of available aircraft means European airlines will struggle to meet demand for travel during the peak season.
He predicted that Ryanair’s ticket prices will be up to 10 per cent more expensive this summer compared with the same period last year.
This means that a family of four could be paying a lot more if they choose to go abroad this summer holiday.
The reason behind this is Boeing’s new aircraft deliveries being delayed and subsequently, Ryanair’s growth in passenger numbers will be lower.
Ryanair’s original forecast for the year to the end of March 2025 was that it would carry 205 million passengers, up from 183.5 million during the previous 12 months.
The chief executive of budget airline Ryanair has warned of higher fares this summer due to a lack of planes – meaning families could face paying £94 more. Pictured is Heathrow airport
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said issues limiting the number of available aircraft mean European airlines will struggle to meet demand for travel during the peak season
Ryanair’s original forecast for the year to the end of March 2025 was that it would carry 205 million passengers, up from 183.5 million during the previous 12 months
For families hoping to jet off to the historic city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia, which rose to fame after being featured in Star Wars and the Game of Thrones, the 10 per cent price hike may mean paying £94 per cent more for tickets.
Currently, the price of Ryanair tickets from London to Dubrovnik for two adults and two children this June is £942.
The price for an adult ticket at the time of writing is £235 and for an adult and a child, it costs £472.
But this could rise to £1,036 for a family of four with the price hike.
Those hoping for a trip to Tenerife are also likely to see a significant price increase, but not quite as steep as tickets to Croatia.
For a family of four, it currently costs £584, costing £144 for one adult, and £291 for an adult and child.
But this may cost £58 more in total with the expected increase.
For families hoping to jet off to the historic city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia, which rose to fame after being featured in Star Wars and the Game of Thrones, the 10 per cent price hike may mean paying £94 per cent more for tickets. Pictured is the Old Walled City of Dubrovnik
Those hoping for a trip to Tenerife (pictured) are also likely to see a significant price increase
The popular tourist destination of Italy may be a slightly better option.
Tickets to Rome for a four-person family are currently £306 – costing £83 for an adult and £153 for an adult and a child.
This means it would only be a £30 hike for a family of four.
But those planning a potential trip to Athens could see ticket prices rise to as much as £595, a £54 increase, for their holiday.
Adult tickets currently cost £154 and £271 for an adult and a child.
Mr O’Leary told reporters at the carrier’s Dublin headquarters: ‘With less aircraft, maybe we’ll have to bring that 205 million down towards 200 million passengers.
‘It might be a scratch below 200 million, we just don’t know at this stage.
‘That probably means that even our growth this year is going to be constrained in Europe, and I think that leads to a higher fare environment across Europe for summer 2024.’
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Acropolis of Athens, Greece
The fountain of four rivers by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in front of Sant’Agnese church, Rome
He went on: ‘Fares in summer 2024 are going to be up again on summer 2023.
‘Our average air fares in summer 2023 rose 17 per cent.
‘We don’t think we’ll see that kind of double-digit fare increase this year.
‘We’re doing our budgets based on a fare increase of 5-10 per cent, which to me feels kind of reasonable.
‘It could be higher than that, it could be lower than that, we don’t really know. ‘If capacity was growing, I think fares would be falling.’
Ryanair has a contract with Boeing for the delivery of 57 new planes by the end of March next year but he expects to only receive 40 to 45 by then.
He said the US manufacturer ‘has the Federal Aviation Administration (the US regulator) crawling all over them’ since a Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a mid-air blowout on January 5.
Mr O’Leary said Boeing ‘has the Federal Aviation Administration (the US regulator) crawling all over them’ since a Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a mid-air blowout on January 5 (pictured)
Passengers were left terrified after one of the jet’s doors flew off during the journey.
Major concerns have been raised about quality control for new Boeing aircraft, sparking a limit in production speed.
Meanwhile, it was announced in July last year more than 1,000 Pratt & Whitney-built engines would need to be removed from Airbus aircraft due to a safety recall.
Mr O’Leary predicted that airlines such as Wizz Air, Lufthansa and Air France ‘will be grounding upwards of 20 per cent of their A320 fleets’ because of this.
He added: ‘If we could get all 57 aircraft deliveries from Boeing in advance before the end of June we would make out like bandits all summer long because we have airports at the moment beating the door down to us.’