Winter holidaymakers face travel chaos as rocketing oil prices threaten flights and could even send airlines to the wall. Ryanair warned some rival carriers may be forced to slash services or could “struggle to survive” the coming months as fuel costs soar.
And passengers face a second blow with the budget giant predicting short-haul European air fares will rise “materially” if sky-high oil prices continue into 2027.
The warning comes after renewed conflict in the Middle East sent fuel costs surging again. Jet fuel has risen 8.2% in just a month to around £115 a barrel – a massive 74.2% higher than a year ago.
Ryanair is already scaling back its own winter plans to avoid buying more fuel at today’s eye-watering prices. It has cut its 2027 passenger target from 216million to 214million, with traffic between November and March now expected to remain broadly flat compared with last year.
The Irish carrier is better protected than some rivals because it locked in the price of around 80% of the fuel it needs for 2027 at £50 a barrel before prices rocketed.
But it warned: “If high oil prices continue through to 2027, Ryanair believes short-haul airfares in Europe will increase materially to reflect higher oil prices.” It added that “less well-hedged competitors will struggle to maintain capacity or even survive this coming winter season”.
Despite the winter squeeze, Ryanair still expects to carry 145million passengers between April and October this year – up more than 5%. Rival Wizz Air, meanwhile, said its passenger numbers jumped almost 26% last month after it increased flight capacity.
It comes after three major UK airports were hacked, with 8.7 million customer records stolen. Manchester, Stansted, and East Midlands airports were “subject to a cybersecurity incident by an unauthorised third party” on August 27. Customer data, including email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations, and postcodes, was accessed in the cyber attack.
It is believed that data from 8.7 million customers was breached. Information related to car park, lounge, and Fast Track bookings, as well as in-airport WiFi sign-ups, was also accessed.