RYANAIR flights are about to get more expensive – after the airline reported a drop in profits.
The budget airline was fined £222million by Italian regulators for blocking travel agencies from accessing their flights.
This has since resulted in a drop of profits, with pre-tax reports of £21.2million in the three months to December – a drop of 83 per cent in the previous year.
In response fares are likely to now go up by as much as nine per cent, more than their predicted seven per cent.
With the average fare costing around £50, this means it could go up to £54.50.
However, Ryanair has said they will be appealing the Italian case, and were “confident” it would be overturned.
The airline has scrapped millions of seats across Europe in recent months, citing high airport costs and taxes.
Across Spain, Tenerife North, Santiago and Vigo have seen all UK flights cancelled.
This leaves the city of Vigo with no direct UK flights.
For France, Bergerac, Brive, and Strasbourg all had their flights cut, although Bergerac flights are set to return this summer.
And all flights to and from the Azores have been axed, citing high ATC fares in Portugal.
Instead, the budget airline is launching more flights at “cheaper” destinations such as Albania and Morocco.
More than 100 new routes are being launched across the UK this year.
It comes after a public spat between Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and Elon Musk earlier this month.
The fight broke out between the two millionaires came after O’Leary said he would not be installing Musk’s Starlink Wi-Fi on Ryanair planes.
This was due the cost it would result in, with as much as $250million per year due to a “fuel drag” caused by the antennas”.
In response, Ryanair launched a “Big Idiot” seat sale, with cheap fares for £15.
Ryanair has since said they are “not ruling out” installing Starlink on planes, depending on the cost factors.
