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Ryanair expects air fares to soften this summer despite high fuel prices

Analysis
James Chapple
18 May 2026

Fuel prices are likely to remain high for several months despite there being reasonable supply to Europe, Ryanair has warned, although it is not predicting a spike in fares as a result.

A Ryanair aircraft at the stand pictured through an aircraft window
(Credit: iStock / ewg3D)

Ryanair is expecting fares to soften this summer (Credit: iStock / ewg3D)

The budget carrier, which posted its full-year results on Monday (18 May), said summer travel demand remained robust – albeit late – amid the current geopolitical challenges.

However, it said flight prices had eased in recent weeks owing to the economic uncertainty caused by higher oil prices, fear of fuel shortages and risk of inflation impacting consumer spending.

It expects fares during the first quarter of its 2027 full-year (three months to the end of June) to lag behind Q1 last year by a mid-single-digit percentage owing to the first week of the Easter holidays falling in March and therefore contributing to its Q4 2026 figures rather than Q1 2027.