Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has warned that fares could begin rising if the Strait of Hormuz stays blocked for much longer. Speaking on Bloomberg, the chief executive of the budget airline said that, generally speaking, the company was in 'great shape' and that he had 'no issues over jet fuel supply right now through to the end of September'.
Nevertheless, he cautioned that he was 'very concerned about the price of oil'. He suggested that this, coupled with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, could see unit costs climb 'about 5 per cent'. That might result in 'airlines failing all over Europe', he warned.
Ryanair, Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers, said on Monday that future profits would also likely take a hit. 'Our unit cost might rise, you know, mid-single digits this year,' Mr O'Leary said. 'There was real worries over jet supply. We met with all of our fuel suppliers in Paris last week. There's no issues over jet fuel supply right now through to the end of September.'
He added: 'There's one issue in the UK. Kuwait, which is the subsidiary of the State of Kuwait, who have about 30 per cent market share at some of the airports in the UK. Even they now are re-sourcing that supply. Most of Europe's jet A1 supply comes from West Africa, the Americas, Norway, and the lifting of Russian sanctions has also eased the supply of jet one into Eastern European countries.'
'I'm very concerned about the price of oil, but I don't believe the conflict in Iran will have any disruption on European jet supplies. I do The question for us is, how long will the Straits of Hormuz remain closed? If the Straits stay closed till September, October, November, then we are looking at our unit costs up (by) about 5 per cent, but you'll be looking at kind of airlines failing all over Europe.'
Mr O'Leary's remarks follow Ryanair's announcement of its results for the year to March 2026, showing a 40 per cent increase in its key after-tax profit measure. The €2.26bn (£1.97bn) sum was slightly higher than analysts had predicted. Ryanair shares fell 4 per cent at the market open. It is also understood that he is close to agreeing a new four-year contract.
Mr O'Leary had sharp words of warning for Donald Trump, saying that the US president could ill-afford to allow the conflict to drag on for much longer. 'Nobody really believes that the Straits of Hormuz are going to stay closed until March of next year. It's just we don't know when they're going to reopen,' he said. 'Iran is going to starve if they don't get the Straits of Hormuz reopened in the next couple of months. The midterm election season kicks off on Memorial Day at the end of May. You know, Trump is going to lose the House and the Senate if he doesn't get this resolved and reopened. None of us know when the timing will be but, you know, I hope it's sooner rather than later.'
