by Olivier Acuña Barba •Published: May 19, 2025•17:01•2 minutes read
Ryanair decides it’s time to increase flight rate prices | Photo: Cristi Mitu/Shutterstock
Ryanair is trying to make your summer holidays more expensive. According to the Guardian Report, after a year of profit-reduced profit-heavy money, the budget airline giant has jacked ticket prices, with a 5-6% increase in the 2025 peak season.
Easter has already jumped 15%, with many wallets feeling in a pinch as Europe’s largest airline carries just over 200 million passengers in 2024-25.
Profits fell 16% to 1.6 billion euros, and were stabbed with a 7% fare cut to keep the plane full after spats with online travel agents like Booking.com and Kayak.
However, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has always been a rude deal maker, calling the results “very robust” and pointing to the 8 euros earned per passenger while keeping costs down.
Airlines don’t just deposit their banks with higher fares. Thanks to a cash pile boosted by Boeing’s delivery delays, it will pay dividends of 400 million euros next week and begin repurchasing shares of 750 million euros next week.
Side-tip US tariffs
Ryanair is waiting for up to eight more aircraft, 29 more 737s next summer, but could slip in the fall as Boeing’s production won 38 jets in a month of the door plug blunder. O’Leary isn’t gonna be saying Boeing’s “significant improvement in ground conditions.” He also dodges potential US tariffs by potentially diverting delivery to the UK, where trade transactions may avoid additional costs. “Taxes are Boeing’s issue, not ours,” he leaned over a fixed price contract and stopped.
Airplanes aren’t the only optimism in O’Leary. The decline in jet fuel prices and the growing cost gap between rivals like EasyJet and Wizz Air are set to make money.
Gut Punch for Holiday Makers
Ryanair’s fuel was hedged 85% at $80 per barrel in 2025, saving millions. Meanwhile, airlines are bent their muscles. This is 2 million passengers, 609 aircraft, and a BBB+ credit rating.
O’Leary also supports Kiel’s starmer push to smooth travel in UK Europe, including amending passport E-gates and pitching youth mobility schemes. “Everything that reduces nonsense at the border is for us all,” he says.
But let’s be real. After a year of modest travelers forced Ryanair to cut prices, this rebound feels like a bowel punch for a holiday maker.
According to Ryanair, there are 164 new routes and a target for transport growth of 3% to 206 million passengers by 2026 Corporate Report, Low-cost airlines keep on demand hot. Braces for more expensive tickets, whether you’re flying to Malaga or heading to Kurakou.
