Ryanair says air fares will keep falling through winter

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Earlier this year the chief executive, Michael O’Leary, predicted average summer fares would rise by 5 to 10 per cent. Mr O’Leary said while he had “no idea” how fares would turn out, he added: “It is reasonable to expect that fares will be down 5 per cent for the rest of the year.” That ends on 31 March 2025. He said of national air-traffic control services across Europe: “They are particularly bad at covering Saturday and Sunday morning.” “It is just incompetent management.” A spokesperson for Eurocontrol – the pan-European air-navigation provider – told The Independent: “As August is not yet over, we can’t provide a full overview of this month’s figures. “However, what we can say is that in July 2024, traffic in the European aviation network was 4.5 per cent up compared to July 2023, with an average of 34,379 flights per day.