O’Leary jets towards €100m
Ultra-cheap flights to top European cities like Prague have evaporated as fast as the vapour trails on a Ryanair flight.
The average price of a seat on its no-frills planes have jumped 24% to a heady €57 in the space ofjust one year. Meanwhile, revenue from add-ons – including seat allocation and extra baggage – ballooned another 14% to €2.4bn in the half year, to rub salt in the wound.
Ryanair used to be accused of disguising the real price of its hitherto cheap flights with a host of pricey addons. But now it’s taking an increasingly brazen approach, hiking the price of flights AND the add-ons.
But I’m sure nobody will mind handing over all that extra hard-earned dosh – even during a cost-of-living crisis.
It’s all going to very good causes – including lining Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s pockets as he aims to become the first
European aviation boss to trouser a €100m bonus as its profits soar into the stratosphere!
Budget airlines such as Ryanair have cashed in on pent-up demand for cheap getaways after Covid lockdowns.
And extra costs racked up by high interest rates and soaring fuel costs have been passed on to consumers – and then some – enabling airlines to rake in bumper profits.
Ryanair expects annual profits of around €2bn this year after flying a record 105 million passengers in the six months to the end of September.
And its shares have climbed accordingly by 40% year to date to trade at €16.75. All this means O’Leary, 62, is edging closer to a €100m payout that hinges on boosting the firm’s shares to €21.
While many City analysts have recently backed the Dublin-based firm’s ability to meet the €21 mark, some have been less optimistic.
At least O’Leary isn’t adding insult to injurious pricing policies. He has taken an increasingly placid approach to PR, moving away from insulting his customers and fellow bosses to a more professional demeanour that’s a far cry from his early days in the Ryanair cockpit.
More than 20 years ago, O’Leary famously told an interviewer: ‘I don’t give a ***** if no one likes me. I am not a cloud bunny, I am not an aerosexual.
‘I don’t like aeroplanes. I never wanted to be a pilot like those other platoons of goons who populate the airline industry.’