Ryanair continues to see “robust” demand for air travel in Europe, despite the ongoing Iran conflict, although bookings are being made later than last year.
The Ireland-based budget airline said in its latest earnings report that prices have “eased” in the past few weeks due to uncertainty created by the ongoing Middle East crisis, which has caused a huge spike in jet fuel costs and sparked fears that European airports could face a shortage of fuel this summer.
“To date, summer 2026 travel demand remains robust although bookings are closer-in than last year, reducing visibility,” said Ryanair Group’s CEO Michael O’Leary in a statement.
“Pricing in recent weeks has eased somewhat in response to economic uncertainty caused by higher oil prices, the fear of fuel shortages and the risk of inflation adversely impacting consumer spending.”
O’Leary added that prices for the current financial quarter from 1 April to 30 June were expected to be below those achieved in the same quarter of last year — by a mid-single digit percentage — although this is largely attributed to the later timing of Easter during 2025.
Ryanair said that overall pricing for the peak summer quarter from July to September was “now trending broadly flat”. But the company emphasised that the “final outcome” would be totally dependent on late bookings and fares.
The airline downplayed possible shortages of aviation fuel this summer and added that its earnings would be “insulated” by its strategy of hedging 80 per cent of its fuel requirements for the current year at lower prices.
“Europe remains relatively well supplied with jet fuel, with significant volumes sourced from West Africa, the Americas and Norway,” said O’Leary.
Ryanair also revealed its full-year earnings for the 2025-26 financial year, up to 31 March 2026, which saw the group’s revenue rise by 11 per cent year-on-year to €15.5 billion and post-tax earnings increase by 35 per cent to €2.2 billion. This includes a provision of €85 million covering part of a fine by the Italian competition regulator, which the airline is appealing against.
The group's total passenger numbers rose by 4 per cent year-on-year to 208.4 million in the 2025-26 financial year, while it maintained a load factor of 94 per cent — the same figure as achieved in the previous year.
O’Leary said it expected passenger growth to increase by another 4 per cent in the current 2026-27 financial year to 216 million passengers.
But the company said it could not currently give “any meaningful” earnings guidance for the current year due to “zero visibility” for the six months from October 2026 to March 2027, as well as “significant fuel price and potential supply volatility”.