Ryanair says fares might rise 2-4% in coming 12 months

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said on average fares may rise by between 2% and 4% over the coming year, with passenger numbers also set to rise.

“Based on everything we see this year, we …expect to grow our traffic from 207 million (passengers) this last year to about 215 million in the next 12 months,” he said, in an apparent reference to the next financial year which begins on April 1.

“And we think there might be a modest 2, 3, 4% increase in air fares. But we haven’t a clue yet,” O’Leary added.

O’Leary said he was not confident that Boeing would pay any future tariffs if an EU-U.S. trade war kicks off, adding that he could not comment on the content of any contracts.

Ryanair’s O’Leary shrugs off Elon Musk takeover threat as feud rumbles on

Michael O’Leary and Elon Musk – are waging a trolling war of their own over Starlink.

The feud erupted last week after Ryanair boss O’Leary ruled out using Musk’s Starlink internet service on his fleet of more than 600 jets, prompting the U.S. billionaire to call him an “utter idiot”.

At a Dublin news conference on Wednesday – billed by Ryanair as responding to “Musk’s latest Twitshit” – O’Leary dismissed a suggestion by Musk that he might buy the airline and replace him, though said he would welcome an investment.

O’Leary said he had no issue with being called an idiot, but derided Musk’s claim that Starlink antennas would not create drag on an aircraft as “a stupid idiotic thing to say”.

The airline boss, who said the spat was boosting bookings, has estimated that using Starlink could cost Ryanair up to $250 million a year, including extra fuel.

MUSK ‘CAN’T TAKE CONTROL’ OF RYANAIR

Ryanair would be open to investment from the world’s richest person, but a takeover is impossible under European Union rules restricting foreign airline ownership, O’Leary said on Wednesday.

“If he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment,” O’Leary said, adding the returns would be better than those from Musk’s social media platform X. “Mr Musk is welcome to buy shares, but he can’t take control.”

Musk has in recent days suggested he might buy Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers and “put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge”. He ran a poll on X in which three-quarters of respondents backed the idea.

ANTI-MUSK BUMP TO BOOKINGS?

Responding to what he called Musk’s “Twitter tantrum”, O’Leary said the publicity was giving bookings a “wonderful boost”.

“They’re up about 2% or 3% in the last five days, which, given our volumes, is a very significant boost,” he said. He later told a reporter that bookings for January to March, the final quarter of Ryanair’s financial year, were strong.

Ryanair shares were up 2% on Wednesday but have moved little overall during the feud, suggesting most investors are not taking Musk’s takeover musings seriously. The billionaire, however, did consult his social media followers before buying X, formerly Twitter.

O’Leary said he had held talks with Starlink for 12 months while evaluating onboard WiFi but concluded the cost was too high. He said Ryanair sought a provider willing to fund installation, and that the two sides sharply disagreed on passenger uptake.

“The Starlink people believe that 90% of our passengers would happily pay for WiFi access. Our experience, sadly tells us we think less than 10% of our passengers would pay for this access,” he said.

Source:  Reuters