The boss of Europe’s biggest airline has warned that jet fuel supplies could be at risk if the Iran war continues for another month.
“We don’t expect any disruption until early May, but if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told Sky News on Wednesday.
He added that 10% to 25% of Ryanair’s supplies could be at risk through May and June. “So like everyone else in this industry, we hope the war ends sooner rather than later.”
Jet fuel prices have been more volatile than oil since the war started in late February. While Brent crude is up about 50% over the past month, jet fuel has doubled, according to statistics shared by the International Air Transport Association.
Ryanair and its subsidiaries make up Europe’s biggest airline group by passenger numbers, carrying over 200 million last year.
It has suspended its 12 flights to Jordan due to the conflict, O’Leary said, but jet fuel is the more immediate concern.
While the budget airline has hedged about 80% of its fuel costs until next March, that leaves about 20% exposed to price rises, the CEO told Sky News.
However, O’Leary was not concerned about canceling many flights.
“Most of Europe takes most of its jet fuel supplies from America, western Africa, and Norway,” he told Sky News.
Although he added that some suppliers are more dependent on the Middle East, too.
“We think our supplies are secure and we intend to continue to grow through this crisis,” O’Leary said.
Ryanair has also benefited from more Europeans looking to travel closer to home over the Easter break.
“Lots of families who would have been going either to the Middle East or flying over the Middle East to go to Asia have all rebooked, and they’re going to Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece,” O’Leary told Virgin Media News on Wednesday.
“They’re all certainly staying much closer to home over the Easter school holiday,” he added. “People are not yet changing their summer holiday plans, but that’s likely to happen if this war continues.”
O’Leary also recommended that people book their flights as soon as possible, due to the risk that airfares continue to rise.
Hundreds of people spent a snowy and freezing night trapped on board parked airplanes last Thursday.
Six flights, with around 600 passengers total, were unable to take off before Munich Airport’s 1 a.m. curfew due to the bad weather, the airport said in a Monday statement.
The airport police department has prepared a report on the incident, which is set to be submitted to the public prosecutor on Tuesday, Sven Otto, chief inspector for the Upper Bavaria North Police, told Business Insider.
He added that no complaints have yet been filed with the police by affected passengers.
Around 100 flights were canceled in Munich on Thursday, and temperatures dropped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. There were long lines to de-ice planes, while runways were periodically closed at short notice to clear the heavy snowfall, the airport said.
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Munich, Europe’s 10th-busiest airport, typically shuts at midnight, but it received a permit that day to operate an hour later.
When the six flights couldn’t depart on time, there was no space left to park at the terminal due to all the cancellations, the airport said.
However, the passengers couldn’t be transported to the terminal because “bus service was severely restricted” due to “the late hour and communication problems,” it added.
Five of the flights were operated by Germany’s Lufthansa Group, and another by Air Arabia, a budget airline based in the UAE, according to the airport.
It said that airlines “provided the passengers with the best possible care on the aircraft.” Although those on board spoke of their distress.
“There was no food or drink for us. There were no blankets for us either,” Søren Thieme, who was on one of the Lufthansa planes, told Ekstra Bladet, a Danish newspaper that first reported the incident.
He said passengers on the canceled flight to Copenhagen asked if they could enter the airport, but they were told it was forbidden, and that all the bus drivers had gone home.
“We’re simply trapped here, along with the staff, too,” he told the newspaper.
Lufthansa and Air Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
Munich Airport said it “apologized expressly” to the affected passengers.
“Our top priority is always the safety and satisfaction of our passengers, and these incidents do not meet our standards.”
Your layover doesn’t have to mean sleeping on the airport floor or surviving on a $10 hot dog.
Some airlines offer “stopover” programs that let travelers turn a layover into a mini‑vacation, giving you a few days to explore the stopover city before continuing to your final destination.
Flight prices usually stay the same, and hotels or activities may be free or heavily discounted. Think of it as two trips for the price of one — and a chance to see a new city along the way.
It might seem counterintuitive — after all, airlines are offering free perks — but the strategy boosts tourism for the home country and encourages travelers to choose a one-stop itinerary over a nonstop flight, which can ultimately be more profitable for the carrier.
I recently took advantage of Turkish Airlines’ stopover deal, spending three days in Istanbul before flying to my final destination, Croatia.
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It gave me just the right amount of time to shake off jet lag after the long flight from New York and check off Istanbul’s main sites, like the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) and the Spice Bazaar.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or Blue Mosque, is a stunning Ottoman-era landmark in Istanbul. I was given a headscarf to wear inside.
Taylor Rains/Business Insider
Turkish is one of roughly two dozen global carriers with a stopover setup. Other examples include Copa Airlines in Panama City, Qatar Airways in Doha, Icelandair in Reykjavik, Fiji Airways in Nadi, and Iberia in Madrid.
With so many options, stopovers are one of the industry’s best travel hacks — though they require careful planning and the rules vary.
You have to apply for your accommodation
For Turkish, the stopover deal includes a free hotel on either the outbound or return flight, provided the layover is at least 20 hours but no more than 7 days. This duration requirement varies from airline to airline.
The hotel reservation wasn’t automatic upon booking. Travelers must separately apply for the voucher on Turkish’s stopover page or via email at least 72 hours before their trip.
You can usually select your preferred hotel, but the final assignment depends on availability and isn’t guaranteed.
Because part of my itinerary was in business class and my origin was the US, I received three free nights at a five-star hotel; eligible economy fares include two nights at a four-star hotel.
I stayed at the Fairmont Quasar, about 40 minutes from the airport and 30 minutes from Istanbul’s tourist-friendly Old City. The complimentary room would normally run around $200 per night during the offseason.
It was unusually snowy in Istanbul during my January trip.
Taylor Rains/Business Insider
It was a bit far from the main sites, as was the case with most of the other hotel options. Still, my room was comfortable, overlooked the Bosphorus Strait, and included breakfast.
Visa fees and transport costs between the airport, city, and hotel were not included; my cabs cost between $20 and $50, with higher fares during rush hour. There is also cheaper public transportation.
I received three nights because the program offers extended hotel stays to travelers flying from select countries, like the US, South Korea, Australia, and Canada. Those on shorter flights or from other locations receive one or two nights’ free, depending on the fare class.
I slept through much of my first day as I adjusted to the eight-hour time difference, but later headed out to explore Istanbul’s historic landmarks and eat a proper kebab.
The beef kebab with rice and sumac-laced onions was the best meal I had in Turkey.
Taylor Rains/Business Insider
The stopover gave me a buffer between the red-eye flight to Turkey and the hiking-focused trip I had planned in Croatia. The whole journey felt like less of a slog.
Not all stopover deals are alike
Each stopover deal works a little differently when it comes to eligibility rules and perks.
Typically, your layover must fall within the program’s specified timeframe, and your itinerary must be on a qualifying route. There may also be restrictions on fare class.
Most airlines also require you to add the stopover through a dedicated portal or customer service, either at the time of booking or within a set window afterward.
My final destination was Croatia. I wanted to get out of the city, so I drove 2 hours from Zagreb to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Visiting in the winter is cheaper, and there are very few other people.
Taylor Rains/Business Insider
Like Turkish, a few sweeten the deal with complimentary stays. UAE’s Etihad Airways includes up to two free hotel nights in Abu Dhabi as part of its program.
Ethiopian Airlines provides a free night at its Skylight In-Terminal Hotel at Addis Ababa Airport for layovers between eight and 24 hours. That’s enough time to sleep, but little chance to explore the city.
Others lean on discounted options. Qatar Airways, for example, offers name-brand hotel rooms in Doha at a small fee, ranging from $14 per person for one night to $76 per person for four nights.
Airlines like Copa and TAP Air Portugal offer structured stopover perks, such as discounts on hotels, restaurants, and experiences. Emirates also includes a stopover, and travelers can optionally add a curated multi-day tour in Dubai for an extra fee.
Others, like Air Canada, Air France, and Dutch carrier KLM, simply let travelers turn a layover into a multi-day visit without risking a fare hike, making their stopovers more of a routing perk than a bundle of freebies.
That means travelers are largely on their own for planning hotels and activities. Even so, stopovers remain a smart way to see a city you might not otherwise make time for.
For aviation and travel aficionados like me, they’re a double win: a chance to experience different airlines and aircraft while squeezing more cities into a single trip.
The CEO of Europe’s biggest airline is in an escalating war of words with Elon Musk over Starlink.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary isn’t convinced by Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet provider, which is becoming more popular among airlines.
For example, Lufthansa — the German flag carrier which runs the continent’s second-largest airline group — announced on Tuesday that it would introduce the service. The following day, Scandinavian Airlines operated its first flight with Starlink.
However, as a budget airline, Ryanair is known for its no-frills offering.
“We don’t think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average one-hour flight,” O’Leary told Reuters on Wednesday.
His comments sparked a debate on X. Musk said in a post: “They [Ryanair] will lose customers to airlines that do have internet.”
In a subsequent interview on Irish radio on Thursday, the outspoken Ryanair boss said adding Starlink would cost the airline between $200 million and $250 million a year.
“In other words, about an extra dollar for every passenger we fly, and the reality for us is we can’t afford those costs,” he told Newstalk.
“Passengers won’t pay for internet usage; if it’s free, they’ll use it — but they won’t pay one euro each to use the internet.”
He then hit back at Musk, saying people should “pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk.”
“He’s an idiot. Very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot,” O’Leary added.
Ryanair and its subsidiaries operate a fleet of 643 airplanes, which handled 206 million passengers last year. 2024’s statistics showed that it was the world’s third-largest airline group, behind American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The Irish airline’s low-cost business model allows it to offer tickets as low as 15 euros, or about $17.40. It focuses on quick turnarounds between flights, charging for add-ons like sitting next to your friends, and on-board sales, including scratchcards and duty-free cigarettes.
Every airline that’s announced Starlink deals so far has included free in-flight internet for everyone on board. So, even if O’Leary changed his mind, it seems unlikely that Musk’s company would let him charge Ryanair passengers to use Starlink.
SpaceX executives also took umbrage at what they said was incorrect information about the fuel costs incurred by installing Starlink.
“You need to put [an] antenna on [the] fuselage — it comes with a 2% fuel penalty because of the weight and drag,” O’Leary told Reuters.
Michael Nicolls, the VP of Starlink engineering, said in an X post that Starlink terminals have a more fuel-efficient profile than other airplane internet providers. He added that SpaceX’s analysis showed a Starlink terminal instead increased fuel costs by 0.3% on a Boeing 737-800, the model that makes up the bulk of Ryanair’s fleet.
“Hmm, must be a way to get that down under 0.1%,” Musk replied to him.
Ryanair declined to comment on Musk’s and Nicolls’ remarks when contacted by Business Insider.SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While US budget airlines have recently pivoted to offer more premium options under intense financial pressures, Ryanair has little reason to do so. Adding an amenity like Starlink would be at odds with its business model, especially if it were free for passengers.
Post-pandemic, more American travellers have been paying extra for more luxurious flights. Budget airlines have also struggled to compete on price with legacy carriers.
But on the other side of the Atlantic, Ryanair has managed to balance a spartan approach with financial success.
In its latest quarterly earnings, Ryanair posted after-tax profits of 1.72 billion euros, about $2 billion — a 20% increase from a year earlier. Southwest Airlines’ latest quarterly earnings were down nearly 20% year-over-year to $54 million.
