Ryanair boss warns ‘The age of cheap air travel is over’

Michael O’Leary, the CEO of Ryanair, believes that the age of cheap travel is coming to an end, saying: “The cost of a plane ticket is too cheap and prices must increase. Fares that cost less than a train ticket to the airport are absurd.” Talking to the Financial Times, he predicted that flight prices will rise for the next five years as soaring fuel costs and environmental charges take their toll.

Prices on many routes are cheaper than they were ten 10 years ago, but according to a recent report in the US, fares rose by 18% in April, the biggest increase since 1963.

O’Leary said he took credit for the era of low-cost flying, pushing down prices with a no-frills service alongside other entrepreneurs such as easyJet’s Stelios Haji-Ioannou, but in the interview, he said “It’s too cheap for what it is. I find it absurd every time that I fly to Stansted, the train journey into central London is more expensive than the airfare.”

“It has been my doing. I made a lot of money doing it. But ultimately, I don’t believe air travel is sustainable over the medium term at an average fare of €40. It’s too cheap at that. But I think, you know, it will still be very cheap and affordable at €50 or €60.”

O’Leary gave the example of a flight from London Stansted to Milan Bergamo airport in Italy on September 13^th, which is on sale for £9.99 on Ryanair’s website, with a return flight two weeks later for the same price, making a total cost of £19.98.

That is less than a one-way ticket from London to Stansted on September 13th, arriving around two hours before the flight would depart, currently priced at £20.70.

However, O’Leary’s comments are in contrast to ones he made in April to Ireland’s RTE news channel, when he said “For all the talk about taxing air travel and the end of air travel... the era of the cheap flight is not coming to an end.”

Here at Canarian Weekly, we believe everyone agrees that flight prices are generally cheap, except for the seasonal increases during school holidays and at Christmas which none of us can understand, but if they do increase, please keep them value for money, maybe don’t charge for the seat or allow more luggage?