Airline boss warns ‘10% of flights could be cancelled’ as he says ‘blame Trump’ | UK | News
Ryanair may be forced to cancel 10 per cent of its flights this summer if the conflict in Iran continues to drive up jet fuel prices, its chief executive has warned.
Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary spoke to ITV News on Thursday about the worrying situation. He said: “We are all facing an unknown scenario. And we certainly think we will have to cancel 5 per cent to 10 per cent of flights throughout May, June and July.” O’Leary said that if any passenger’s flight is canceled, they should blame Trump rather than the airline.
Speaking to ITV News Business Editor Joel Hills, O’Leary urged travelers to book summer flights as soon as possible to avoid rising costs. “This is a poorly judged attack on Iran, there doesn’t seem to be any exit plan,” he said.
In a separate interview with Sky News, the Ryanair chief added: “Fuel suppliers are constantly looking at the market. We don’t expect any disruption until early May, but if the war continues we run the risk of supply disruption in Europe in May and June and we hope the war will be over sooner than that and the supply risk will be gone.”
“We think there’s a reasonable risk, maybe as little as 10% to 25% of our supplies could be at risk throughout May and June, so we’re hoping, like everyone else in this industry, that the war ends as soon as possible.”
“If the war ends by April and the Strait of Hormuz reopens, then the supply risk is almost non-existent.”
This follows news that British airline Skybus, which operates daily flights between London Gatwick and Newquay, has been forced to cancel all flights due to a fuel crisis. Flights have been canceled since Friday, April 3, due to the increase in fuel prices and the decrease in the number of passengers.
Skybus has been operating daily flights between London Gatwick and the seaside town of Newquay since November 2025 as part of a Public Service Obligation funded by Cornwall Council and the Department for Transport, which is scheduled to run until 31 May.
Skybus managing director Jonathan Hinkles said: “The huge increase in the global cost of fuel following the conflict in the Gulf, combined with the significant decline in new passenger bookings since the planned closure of the PSO airline was announced in mid-February, presents an insurmountable obstacle to continued service throughout April and May.”
“At a time when economic uncertainty is great and steps are being taken to save energy around the world, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with greatly reduced passenger numbers.”
He expressed his gratitude to passengers, local stakeholders and the Skybus team for their continued support.
