The owner of Rainier and the pioneer of cheap travel in Europe, said that flight prices are expected to rise in the next five years because the flight has become “too cheap” as industry costs keep rising. He pointed to a shortage of workers mainly due to Britain leaving the EU
Michael O’Leary, owner of Rainier, warned that flight prices would rise over the next five years because the flight had become “too cheap.” His warning came as ticket prices rose across Europe and the US, with passengers returning after closures due to the Corona virus and some airlines reduced capacity due to staff shortages. He told the Financial Times: “It’s too cheap for what it is. “I find it absurd that every time I fly to Stansted (an airport in England), the train journey to central London is more expensive than the fare.”
O’Leary said Because he expects that a combination of high oil prices and environmental issues will jump the average fare of flights in the company from 40 euros to 50 euros to 60 euros in the medium term. He also criticized the British government and what he called the “disaster” of the Brexit, which effectively prevented airlines from easily recruiting European workers, thus exacerbating the shortage of manpower this summer. “This is without a doubt one of the inevitable consequences of the Brexit disaster,” he said.
“Withdrawing from the EU just so they can say, ‘We’ve finished the Brexit’ was the height of idiocy. But then they’re idiots.” His comments come amid reports that airlines are preparing to announce a new wave of cancellations next week. In recent Thursdays and Fridays passengers at Heathrow in London have complained about long queues, flight cancellations and loss of luggage, and disruptions at UK airports have intensified.
O’Leary is one of the first airlines to warn of tariff increases in the longer term. His airline actually closed most of its future fuel requirements for the rest of the year at $ 65 a barrel before Russia invaded Ukraine, saving it from the most severe impact of the sharp rise in prices. The company is in fact the only major airline in Europe that has avoided a shortage of crews,
EasyJet revealed last month that it had rejected 8,000 job applicants this year because of their citizenship, most of them from the EU, and the UK Department of Transportation responded that “there have been delays around the world due to staff shortages”.