Disruption to jet fuel supplies may kick in during early May, according to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, who warned that if war in the Middle East continues, there is a risk of supply disruption in Europe in the early summer months.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Sky News, Mr O’Leary said the airline and its fuel suppliers are “constantly looking at the marketplace”.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully the war will finish sooner than that and the risk to supply will be eliminated,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr O’Leary added that the airline is “reasonably well hedged” and has about 80% of its fuel bought forward until March 2027.<\/p>\n
He said that if the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens “by the middle or end of April, then there’s no risk to [jet fuel] supply.”<\/p>\n
However, he said, if the war continues and “the disruption to supply continues,” the airlines believes there is a “reasonable risk at some low level – maybe 10[%], 20[%], 25% our supplies might be at risk through May and June.”<\/p>\n
Mr O’Leary said that “like everybody else in the [aviation] industry,” Ryanair hopes that the war would end “sooner rather than later.”<\/p>\n
He said that at the moment he was “reasonably certain” that there would be no disruption to supply “until about the middle of May, and obviously we would hope this war will finish before the end of April.<\/p>\n
“Then I think the risk of disruption will go away.<\/p>\n
“However, the risk of significantly higher prices will remain through May, April, June,” he said.<\/p>\n
He added that some of Ryanair’s competitor airlines – Wizz and Easyjet – are already cancelling flights, adding that “they’ve reduced their capacity by about 5% … through May and June.”<\/p>\n
But he said Ryanair has not cut any flights, adding that “we think our [fuel] supplies are secure…and we intend to continue to grow through this crisis.”<\/p>\n
‘Extremely difficult to be certain’<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has warned that If the war in Iran continues and if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, then an energy supply shock will hit the economy.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said that disruption to fuel supply and particularly the supply of aviation fuel due to conflict is leading to a “very serious” situation.<\/p>\n
Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, Mr Martin said that it is “extremely difficult to be certain as to what will unfold”.<\/p>\n