"The world's favourite airline"

Michael O’Leary’s bid to make air travel affordable for all appears to have suffered a setback, following news that Ryanair expects to increase its fares.

The airline – famed for its £1 seat sales – will hike prices by up to ten per cent on Irish flights this spring, with other European countries being looked at soon after.

Its decision ends four consecutive years of price-cuts by Ryanair – Europe’s largest low-cost carrier and one of the few airlines to post profits during the recession.

Mr O’Leary was quick to blame the fare hikes on higher charges from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which he said is increasing fees by 40 per cent this April.

“Certainly I’d be surprised if they (Ryanair fares) don’t go up by at least five to ten per cent out of Ireland,” he told The Irish Times. “They’ll have to go up by that just to pay for the DAA increases. That in turn will result in fewer passengers going through Irish airports.”

But in a move that cannot be linked to the DAA, the airline boss also indicated for the first time that Ryanair fares could increase across Europe as soon as 1 April.

“We would hope that with fares having fallen by 20 per cent over the past 12 months, they would rise over the next 12 months,” Mr O’Leary told the newspaper. “But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

Ryanair has built its reputation on being the world’s cheapest carrier, often deriding competitors as “high-fare airlines”. Under Mr O’Leary’s leadership, the Irish carrier has all but abandoned any pretence at customer service, insisting that passengers care about price first and foremost.

That ethos undeniably drove the company’s financial success, but customer loyalty has suffered as a result and analysts say any substantial fare hikes will drive away passengers.

Mr O’Leary also revealed that Ryanair plans to cut 20 per cent of flights from Dublin Airport this summer, reducing annual traffic at the gateway by as much as two million people.

© Cheapflights Ltd (Creative Commons image: bigpresh / Flickr)

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