Ticket fare prices this summer are likely going to be lower than previously expected, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday, despite previous warnings that rising costs would get passed on to airline customers.
Aviation executives and analysts have said ticket prices were set to go up even more this year as capacity constraints and slower aircraft deliveries limit the amount of planes in the sky despite robust travel demand.
'Looking At Summer'
However, O'Leary said that prices were not rising as fast as previously assumed. Ryanair shares were down 6.4% at 1354 GMT, with easyJet and Lufthansa shares also down after O'Leary's comments.
"Looking at summer ... We thought pricing would be up 5-10%. We're heading to flat (pricing year-on-year) to 5% up, which is surprising with a lot of the Airbus fleet grounded for maintenance," he told reporters in Brussels.
In February, O'Leary said average fares could increase by €10-15 in the next five years.
Boeing
In April, Ryanair said it expects Boeing to take 12 to 18 months to eliminate backlogs in its aircraft deliveries, Michael O'Leary said in London, reinforcing a call for more quality oversight.
Boeing said it expected a slower increase in its production rate and deliveries as it faces scrutiny over quality control since a January mid-air panel blowout on a near-new 737 MAX 9.
Tel Aviv
O'Leary added it didn't make a difference whether Boeing owned supplier Spirit Aerosystems, but "quality control does need to be improved".
He said Ryanair was still planning to restart flights to Tel Aviv in June as long as a new low-cost terminal opened and the security situation allowed.
