A word of warning to anyone yet to book your summer getaway – you might have to pay a little extra than expected this year. Ryanair’s boss has warned that its ticket prices could cost up to 10 percent more than usual.
The potential price hike is down to the delayed delivery of new Boeing planes, which means that passenger capacity will be limited. Apparently 57 planes were due to arrive in March, but the company now thinks that only 40 to 45 will be delivered in time for the summer season. As a result, Ryanair has had to cut down its initial forecast of 205 million passengers to 200 million.
The news basically comes as a knock on effect after part of a Boeing plane blew out during a US passenger flight last month. No one was injured but it had to make an emergency landing. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, said that the American manufacturer has had US regulator the Federal Aviation Administration ‘crawling all over them’ and production has slowed down.
Ryanair is hoping to get some sort of compensation, but for now the priority is getting those airplanes in.
Lucy Coutts, investment director at JM Finn, told the BBC's Today programme: ‘Boeing itself has said there are going to be 9,000 fewer seats this summer available because of the delays at the company.
‘Ryanair is a low-cost carrier and so its hikes of ten percent are a little bit higher than the average at 3 to 7 percent but it is because it is coming from a low base.’
All the latest with Time Out
Whether you’re going in, out or around the UK, Time Out keeps you updated on everything going on with everything travel related. Most recently, we reported that Ryanair is launching new routes from this UK airport, London will soon be directly linked to the Faroe Islands, these UK airport won’t be scrapping the 100ml liquid rule and this tiny train station is reopening after 60 years.
Did you see that hedgehogs are finally making a comeback in the UK?
Plus: This airline has been named the worst in the UK, again.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.