RYANAIR has announced that its flights are selling cheaper than expected this summer.
Those still looking for a bargain summer trip should check out the airline’s flights, which CEO Michael O’Leary says are cheaper than last summer.
The budget carrier reported falling quarterly profits for the three months to June 30 compared with a year earlier.
Over the same period, the average fare fell by 15 per cent to €42 (£35).
O’Leary said the airline would need to offer cheaper fares in the coming months to try to “stimulate” the market.
He said: “While demand (in the second quarter) is strong, prices remain softer than we expected and we now expect prices (in the second quarter) to be substantially lower than last summer.”
The airline currently has August and September flights available on its website for just £14.99 for anyone looking for a late deal.
To find them, just go to the Ryanair website and they can choose “any destination” instead of the destination when searching for flights.
From there, they will be able to choose which month they want to fly and which day they would like to fly, and the website will then show them the cheapest destinations to fly to based on their criteria.
Even though passenger numbers rose 10 percent to 55.5 million over the same period, the airline was still hit financially, with revenue per passenger down 10 percent overall.
This is because passengers choose not to pay additional optional fees for things like seat reservations and checked bags.
Ryanair said its performance for the rest of the summer was now “totally dependent” on last-minute bookings in August and September.
The airline hopes its cheaper flights will improve those numbers during this quarter.
Customers are typically waiting longer than usual to book a summer holiday, partly due to the cost of living crisis.
The numbers provide the latest indication that the post-pandemic pricing boom enjoyed by carriers is coming to an end.
Other airlines have also recently indicated that they, too, will have to be tactical when it comes to ticket prices.
Everything you need to know before boarding the plane
In early July, Jet2 said there would be only a “modest” price increase this summer amid a wave of later bookings to European destinations.
German airline Lufthansa also pointed to “negative market trends” while Air France-KLM warned of a financial hit after fewer people than expected booked flights to Paris for the upcoming Olympics.
It’s not just the cost of living that’s putting people off flying this summer.
Disruption also plays a role, with a number of different events already this year leading to cancellations and delays.
Mr O’Leary targeted air traffic controllers across Europe after fewer flights took off in the period, affecting thousands of passengers.
He said: “In the last 10 days of June, we suffered a significant deterioration in European air traffic control capacity, which caused numerous flight delays and cancellations, particularly the morning flights of the first wave.
“(This makes it) more urgent than ever for the new European Commission and Parliament to carry out long-delayed reform of Europe’s hopelessly inefficient air traffic control services.”
In the meantime, this little-known method can save you hundreds of flights.
And this is how you can find cheap flights at the last minute.