Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, spoke about the recession in the travel sector and air fares. He also spoke about Hungarian-based Wizz Air.
Michael O’Leary sees no signs of recession. The CEO of Rynair pointed out that they had record bookings in January and that UK demand is picking up. Ryanair is the largest airline in Europe by passenger numbers. Last weekend, it had 2 million bookings, a record.
“There just seems to be very strong demand out there and people, I think, worrying that prices are going to rise in summer, which I think they will, and people getting in early and booking their Easter and summer travel,” Euronews quotes O’Leary as saying.
Ryanair expects a strong summer season. “The holiday mood is holding up despite the economic downturn due to high inflation, because people no longer see holidays as a luxury,” said Ryanair’s CEO.
Competing airlines EsayJet, British Airways and Lufthansa are still behind the 2019 figures. O’Leary says they have the advantage of owning most of the aircraft, while EasyJet and Wizz Air lease most of their fleet, index.hu reports. O’Leary said the European airline industry faces further consolidation in the coming years.
“Alitalia could clearly go to Lufthansa in the next three to four months, TAP could be bought by BA-IAG, easyJet could be bought by either BA or Air France or a combination of the two, and then Lufthansa will buy Wizz Air,” said Michael O’Leary.
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