Holiday cost set to soar, says O’Leary

A HOLIDAY price warning has been issued to UK travellers by the boss of Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, has warned holiday prices for British travellers will soar “dramatically higher”.

The boss of the budget airline has issued the stark warning amid a rising demand as airlines cut their seats.

He told The Sunday Times: “I think there will be a dramatic recovery in holiday tourism within Europe next year. And the reason why I think prices will be dramatically higher is that there’s less capacity.

“Take out Thomas Cook (six million seats), Flybe (eight million seats), Norwegian (nearly 24 million seats) - Alitalia’s reducing its fleet by 40%. There is going to be about 20% less short-haul capacity in Europe in 2022 with a dramatic recovery in demand.”

Ryanair prices will be cut this winter,to “grab market share everywhere”, Mr O’Leary said.

Ryanair saw all flights grounded amid the onset of the global health crisis and Covid-19 pandemic back in the spring of 2020.

Easyjet, Jet2, British Airways are among its rivals which also saw the number of services cut dramatically last year.