Ryanair warns passengers they will see a big change to ticket prices this year

has warned passengers that its planning to hike ticket prices this year after it reported a 16% slump in annual earnings.

In a setback for , Ryanair said that travellers should brace for steeper ticket prices, with rises anticipated to reach "mid-high teen percent" in comparison to last year during its first quarter.

The news come a year after the Irish carrier attempted to boost passenger numbers and reserve a slump in fortunes by cutting fare prices. In July 2024, Ryanair said its average ticket dropped from €49.07 to €41.93 year on year.

Additionally, the airline aims to makeup for some of the previous year’s 7% fare reduction throughout the summer peak. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said: "While we cautiously expect to recover most but not all of last year's 7% fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth in 2025-26, it is far too early to provide any meaningful guidance."

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Pre-tax profits at Ryanair fell to €1.78 billion (£1.5 billion) for the year ending March 31, down from the previous year's €2.13 billion (£1.79 billion), after bosses cut ticket prices by an average of 7% to boost traffic. Post-tax profits also took a hit, dropping by the same percentage to €1.61 billion (£1.35 billion).

Despite lower fares spurring a 9% increase in passengers to 200.2 million over the year, future growth prospects are subdued, with only 3% expected in 2025-26 due to delays in Boeing aircraft deliveries.

Mr O'Leary warned that the final results for 2025-26 are still highly vulnerable to unpredictable events such as tariff wars, economic turmoil, conflict escalation in and the Middle East, or mishandling and under-staffing in European air traffic control.

The group admitted that it had to resort to slashing fares last year in an attempt to increase passenger numbers, amid a squeeze on consumer spending, the timing of Easter, and a significant decline in bookings via online travel agencies.

In addition, Ryanair has repeatedly reduced its passenger forecasts due to ongoing issues with Boeing aircraft.

Airlines have been rocked by troubles at Boeing, which suffered a prolonged strike towards the end of last year, while the aerospace giant was forced to slow down production of its 737 Max aircraft following a door panel blowout on a commercial flight in January of the previous year.

Adding to these challenges are concerns over tariffs, with Ryanair recently cautioning that aircraft deliveries may be postponed if tariffs imposed by US President make them more costly.

One big change to service at Ryanair that was due to kick in earlier this year was a move to 100% paperless boarding passes. That was moved from March to November 2025.

If the changes happen by the new date, Ryanair passengers will no longer download and print a physical paper boarding pass but will instead use the digital boarding pass generated in their “myRyanair” app during check-in. Today almost 80% of Ryanair’s 200m passengers already use this digital boarding pass, the airline has said.

Ryanair says it expects to eliminate almost all airport check-in fees from November 2025, as all passengers will have checked-in online/in-app to generate their digital boarding pass. It is unclear what will happen to passengers who arrive at the airport having forgotten to check-in.