Ryanair has fuel guaranteed until the end of May. What happens after that is unknown . It depends on the progress of the Gulf War and what happens in the Strait of Hormuz: if the conflict ends in late April or early May, there would be no problems. Otherwise...

Michael O'Leary , the volcanic CEO of the low-cost airline, spoke today during a round table with a group of Italian journalists in Dublin.

From prices to jet fuel availability, from taxes to declining bookings, the head of the airline that accounts for the largest share of passengers in Sardinia answered numerous questions in a conversation that lasted over an hour. And he did so in his own way, without mincing words. His comments were reported by Corriere della Sera and Il Sole 24 Ore.

Supplies at risk and bookings in decline

"At the moment, all the oil companies are saying there's no risk of supply shortages in May, but we're still not sure about June," he explains. This isn't exactly reassuring for the tourism sector, which represents a significant portion of our island's summer economy.

O'Leary lashed out at alarmist statements from the International Energy Agency, which recently said several European countries could begin facing jet fuel shortages in the next six weeks. "Travel demand for us was very strong over Easter, but we see some weakness for June, July, and August. We think people are holding off on bookings. There's a lot of media hype like 'The world will run out of oil and flights will be canceled.' Even those idiots at the International Energy Agency are playing a part."

At the moment, he clarifies, "Europe is not short of fuel," but "if the war were to continue and Hormuz remained blocked, there would be a risk of losing perhaps 10-20% of our jet fuel." But for now, the Irish low-cost airline is not making cuts: "We see no reason to do so. Our April and May bookings are 1% higher than last year, and those for June, July, and August are 1% lower, because there's hesitation." "None of us can be sure," O'Leary explains, "I don't know if we'll be forced to cancel flights. So why should people book summer flights?" Furthermore, he explains, "if the flight is cancelled because there's no fuel at the airport, it's clearly an extraordinary circumstance, so the passenger is not entitled to compensation."

Jet fuel costs to rise by $600 million annually

The CEO, however, urges customers to book now, because "if you wait, prices will be higher." Kerosene prices have, in fact, increased dramatically: "It cost us 50 million more in April and another 50 million more in May. If it continued like this for 12 months, it would cost me around 600 million." And even if the conflict were to end immediately and Hormuz reopened, prices would have to wait at least "until September" for them to return to normal.

"Our business was booming, everything was going great, no one can compete with us. Then Trump decides in mid-March to tear Iran apart and sends the world into chaos. You want to know what's going to happen? The answer is we have no idea ," O'Leary vents.

The crusade against taxes

And while the EU Commission is debating jet fuel, O'Leary is calling for reducing or abolishing the ETS: "Everything else is just a waste of time. The EU commissioners are useless; they've been arguing about carry-on baggage for two years. That's why I say, get a move on, abolish or reduce the ETS ."

O'Leary believes airport taxes and municipal surcharges , his mainstay, are also causing further damage. He has repeatedly called on the Sardinia Region to abolish them, promising to invest more on the island: "Where this tax has been abolished, traffic has increased by double digits. We could do more and invest up to $4 billion in Italy if it were completely abolished."

(Unioneonline)

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