Ryanair chief shrugs off oil threat

James Quinn|Daily Mail13 April 2012

RYANAIR's straight-talking boss Michael O'Leary believes fuel surcharges are 'a one-way ticket to oblivion' - even though the soaring price of oil could slash his profits by up to £50m.

The budget airline chief promised that his company could still turn a profit if oil rose to US$80 a barrel. However, Ryanair has only fixed the price of its fuel until the end of October, after which it will have to buy on the open market.

O'Leary said that the company's profits would be cut by £27m for each $10 increase above the $30-a-barrel level which it has budgeted for. Oil is now wavering around $48.

But Ireland's 10th richest man laughed off suggestions that his colourful language was a sign of heightened pressure.

Instead the man from Mullingar predicted that the oil price would fall over time. And he stressed Ryanair's deep pockets in the form of its £849m cash pile.

Unveiling 900,000 90p fares to celebrate Ryanair's 90 millionth passenger, O'Leary said the winter fares bloodbath was firmly under starter's orders.

He vowed a bitter battle to the end, saying that Ryanair remained the only true low-cost carrier. Dismissing rival easyJet, he said: 'If you're talking about that orange airline, that's a high-cost one.'

He went on to pour scorn on Stelios Haji-Ioannou's latest venture, easyBus. O'Leary rejected jovial claims that he was copying Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson's style in spite of the fact that he wore jeans and trainers to yesterday's press conference.

Of his ongoing legal battle with Stansted airport owner BAA over its fuel levy, he said it will not reach court until early next year. 'This is the forces of good against the dark side,' he said.

As his firm's shares rose 4c to e4.30, O'Leary joked: 'Running Ryanair is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.'

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in