{"version":"1.9","identifier":"e7eb4ebe-0b22-4a0d-a0f7-df1b09618b42","language":"en-US","title":"Ryanair warns European fares will rise 'materially' as it braces for a €2 billion fuel hit","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.loungefrog.com/news/ryanair-warns-european-fares-rise-materially-fuel-2027","datePublished":"2026-11-02T14:25:58.760905Z","dateModified":"2026-11-02T14:28:36.50359Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"Ryanair's profit fell 15% as fares dropped this summer, but the airline says short-haul fares across Europe should climb next year as cheap fuel deals run out.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/e7eb4ebe-0b22-4a0d-a0f7-df1b09618b42/d1968083b2df077cda9616367bfe1127.jpg","keywords":["airline"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Ryanair warns European fares will rise 'materially' as it braces for a €2 billion fuel hit","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Ryanair's profit fell 15% as fares dropped this summer, but the airline says short-haul fares across Europe should climb next year as cheap fuel deals run out.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published November 2, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/e7eb4ebe-0b22-4a0d-a0f7-df1b09618b42/d1968083b2df077cda9616367bfe1127.jpg","caption":"A Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX landing · Ryanair","accessibilityCaption":"A Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX landing","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"A Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX landing · Ryanair","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Ryanair just gave travelers a clear warning about next year. In its [first-half results released on Nov. 2, 2026](https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-h1-pat-falls-15-to-e2-15bn-as-unhedged-oil-doubles-traffic-grows-6-at-lower-fares/), the Irish low-cost airline said it expects European short-haul fares to \"increase materially\" as jet fuel stays expensive.\n\nThe airline says its fuel bill for the year that starts in April 2027 could rise by about €2 billion, based on current forward prices. It also says higher fares are still unlikely to cover all of that cost.\n\n## What happened this year\n\nFor now, fares have actually gone down. Ryanair says its average fare for the six months to the end of September was €55.70, down 4% from €58.00 a year earlier. Even the summer quarter, from July to September, saw fares slip 2% to €63.40.\n\nThe airline blamed part of the drop on timing and part on nervous buyers. It says April didn't include a full Easter, and that the conflict in the Middle East made people hesitate and book later.\n\nPlanes were still full. Ryanair carried 125.8 million passengers in the half, up 6%, and its load factor held at 95%. In the July to September quarter alone, it flew 64.5 million people with planes 96% full.\n\nProfit after tax fell 15% to €2.15 billion, down from €2.54 billion. Revenue rose 3% to €10.08 billion. Money from extras like bags and seat choice rose 6% to €3.08 billion. Operating costs, though, jumped 10% to €7.69 billion.\n\n## Why fuel is the whole story\n\nRyanair buys most of its fuel in advance at fixed prices. This is called hedging. For the current year, which runs to March 2027, the airline says 80% of its fuel is locked in at about $67 a barrel. The other 20% is bought at market prices, and Ryanair says that share doubled in cost to roughly $130 a barrel.\n\nThe cheap locked-in deals run out before summer 2027. So far, Ryanair has covered only 25% of its fuel for the following year, at about $95 a barrel. The airline says all European carriers face a much higher fuel bill next year. It adds that fuel prices are likely to stay high well into 2027 unless the Middle East conflict ends quickly.\n\nThat's where the fare warning comes from. Ryanair says fares should rise to reflect those fuel costs and cuts by rival airlines. Still, it says it is reviewing costs across its airlines too. That review includes airport fee talks, possible temporary pay freezes, smaller crew sizes and more use of artificial intelligence.\n\n## What it means for your winter trips\n\nRyanair says it has already trimmed its schedule to limit how much fuel it buys at today's prices. It cut its passenger target for the year to March 2027 from 216 million to 214 million. As a result, it expects winter traffic from November to March to be about flat compared with last year.\n\nNear-term fares look a little firmer. The airline says fares for the October to December quarter are trending modestly ahead of last year. It adds that the final result depends on late bookings for school mid-term breaks and Christmas. Ryanair says it has no visibility yet for January to March, so it isn't giving a full-year profit forecast.\n\n## Where Ryanair is adding and cutting flights\n\nFor summer 2027, Ryanair plans to grow to more than 220 million passengers, up about 3%. It says it has 126 new routes and one new base, in Rimini, Italy, on sale.\n\nThe airline says it is moving planes to places that cut aviation taxes or lower airport fees. It names Albania, Italy, Morocco, Slovakia and Sweden. It says it is shifting flights away from Austria, Germany and regional Spain, which it calls high-tax or rising-cost markets.\n\nNew planes are part of the plan. Ryanair says the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has certified the Boeing 737 MAX 10. It expects European regulators to follow before the end of the year, which would let it take its first 16 MAX 10s in spring 2027. The airline says the MAX 10 has 20% more seats and burns 20% less fuel.\n\n## The bottom line\n\nIf you fly Ryanair this winter, the airline's own outlook points to similar capacity and slightly higher fares than last year. The bigger change could come in summer 2027, when Ryanair expects fares across European short-haul flying to climb as cheap fuel deals expire.\n\nRyanair also says its customer satisfaction score rose to 90% this summer, up from 89%. You can see how travelers rate the airline on our [Ryanair page](https://www.loungefrog.com/airlines/fr).","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}