Latest news with #MichaelO'Leary
Irish Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Post
Ireland's housing crisis deepens as prices increase for 21st month in a row
Ireland's housing crisis is getting worse as supply fails to keep up and affordability hits historic lows. New data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals that property prices rose nearly 8% nationally in the 12 months to May—marking the 21st consecutive month of increases. The median price of a home is now €370,000, up €5,000 from April and €35,000 from the same period last year. Dublin saw prices climb by 7%, while regions outside the capital recorded an even sharper increase of nearly 9%. The border counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, and Sligo led the surge with an 11% rise. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median price at €670,000, while Leitrim had the lowest at €186,000. Blackrock in Dublin (Eircode A94) remains the most expensive area, with a median home price of €770,000. Despite soaring prices, demand shows no signs of slowing. In May 2025 alone, 3,824 residential property purchases were filed with the Revenue Commissioners—nearly €1.6 billion in value—of which only 911 were new homes. First-time buyers made up 1,388 of those purchases. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned that no major increase in housing supply is expected this year or in 2026. Tight labour conditions and low productivity in the construction sector mean that output is expected to fall well below government targets. The ESRI estimates 33,000 new homes will be delivered in 2025 and 37,000 in 2026—far short of the 52,000 units the Central Bank says are needed annually to meet demand. 'This is a particularly stressed situation,' said ESRI economist Conor O'Toole. 'We do not foresee any major uptick in supply for at least the next two years.' Ireland's affordability crisis is among the worst in Europe. A February survey by the European Central Bank showed that 17% of Irish consumers are actively looking to buy or rent—a figure second only to the Netherlands. Meanwhile, rents continue to climb, with the average monthly rent in Dublin now at €1,829. A RE/MAX Europe survey found that one-third of Irish people are considering emigrating due to the high cost of housing—second only to Malta across the EU. Around 20% of people said they are 'struggling or really struggling' to cover housing costs, with another 35% saying they are barely coping. Homelessness is also on the rise, hitting a record 14,500 people at the start of 2025. The crisis is leading to wider economic strain, with many people cutting back on shopping and travel. Even Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary recently described getting a 'recessionary feel' from passengers. While Ireland's economy has thrived in recent years, mainly due to foreign investment and tech sector growth, the housing system has failed to keep pace. Without significant intervention, Ireland may once again face an era of mass emigration, driven not by lack of opportunity but by the simple inability to afford a place to live. As Michael Polzler, CEO of RE/MAX Europe, put it, 'You can't grow an economy without housing.' See More: CSO, ESRI, Housing, Housing Crisis
Local Spain
10-07-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Ryanair threatens more Spain flights cuts as airport operator hikes fees
Budget airline Ryanair has threatened to cut further flights to Spain this winter season as its battle with Spain's airport operator to lower fees at regional airports intensifies. Ryanair's outspoken CEO, Michael O'Leary, has again warned that he will cut capacity at small hubs for the coming winter season if the Spanish airport network operator, Aena, does not reduce the fees. This comes as Aena plans to undo a fee freeze and introduce the biggest increase in a decade. 'There will be significant cuts in Spain,' O'Leary said in a press conference in Dublin this week. The low-cost Irish airline has already cut 800,000 seats in Spain and cancelled 12 routes this summer for the same reason, ceasing entirely with operations at smaller airports like Jerez and Valladolid. Routes have also been cut at regional airports such as Santiago de Compostela, Asturias, Cantabria, and Zaragoza. But Ryanair is not cutting its routes throughout the country: the airline added 1.5 million seats to larger and more popular airports such as Madrid, Málaga, and Alicante. O'Leary did not specify the extent of the new cuts or which airports will be affected this winter, but he did stress that the cutbacks will be far-reaching and have an impact: 'Some regional airports will close this winter,' the outspoken CEO threatened. The warnings from Europe's leading budget airline coincides with Aena's new investment plan, which will start after the summer. It will outline a new fee structure for the 2027-2031 period and introduce a programme of investment worth billions of euros to expand Barcelona El Prat and Madrid's Barajas airports, which will be financed primarily by the fees it charges airlines. From 2026 the legal limit on fee hikes that Aena has followed in recent years will come to an end. Faced with this new scenario, airlines like Ryanair are already trying to ensure that these fees are as low as possible and protect their bottom lines. O'Leary claims that Aena will 'waste' billions of euros by 'building facilities that airlines do not want or need as a way to increase fares.' 'We do need investment in Barcelona and Madrid,' he said, but not for "additional runways", suggesting the expansions are a way of justifying fee increases. Aena has already put forward the proposals for a tariff review in 2026 that would mark a turning point in its pricing policy: the airport operator is proposing a 6.5 percent increase in the fees it charges airlines, the largest since legislation came into force in 2015, which froze tariffs and limited the operator's ability to charge airlines. The hike would translate into an average increase of 68 cents per passenger, bringing the Adjusted Maximum Revenue per Passenger (IMAAJ) up to €11.03 from the current €10.35.
Irish Independent
10-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
The Indo Daily: 40 years of low fares and high drama – How Ryanair changed Europe one controversy at a time
Ryanair is a name synonymous with cheap travel, an abrasive CEO and too many controversies to count on one hand. By the early 1990s, Ryanair was operating 15 routes to cities including Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and London. It had also established regional services to Cork, Galway, Shannon and Knock airports. Under the leadership of Michael O'Leary, who moved from being the airline's financial controller to CEO in 1994, Ryanair continued its 'no-frills' model by standardising its fleet to a single aircraft type (the Boeing 737) and focussing its services to secondary airports near large cities with lower landing fees. O'Leary's new regime introduced charges for everything from checked bags to seat selection and onboard refreshments. By the early 2000s, Ryanair had grown into one of Europe's largest and most profitable airlines, carrying tens of millions of passengers annually. O'Leary has also never been shy of putting his head above the parapet. In one publicity stunt in 2010, he turned up alongside a hearse at Dublin Airport, mourning the 'death of Irish tourism' due to the opening of Terminal 2. In 2009, O'Leary suggested in an interview that Ryanair was considering charging passengers to use the toilet on flights, an idea that never came to pass. Today on The Indo Daily, Kevin Doyle is joined by John Mulligan, Senior Business Journalist with the Irish Independent, to look back at 40 years of low fares and high drama at one of Ireland's most divisive companies.
Irish Independent
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Ryanair has lowest CO2 emissions among world's biggest airlines
Among all airlines, it ranks number 20, however, with smaller rival Wizz Air topping the chart. Ryanair – Europe's biggest airline and one of the world's largest – was found by Cirium to emit 63 grammes of CO2 per available seat kilometre during 2024. That was down 1.9pc compared to 2023. Number two on the list of the world's largest airlines was US low-cost carrier Southwest, at 68.9 grammes per available seat kilometre. An available seat kilometre (ASK) is a standard unit of measure within the aviation sector for the total amount of capacity an airline has on offer. Delta was third, with 74.4 grammes per ASK. Cirium said that Ryanair, whose group chief executive is Michael O'Leary, emitted a total of 13.7m tonnes of CO2 last year. Ryanair aims to reduce its CO2 emissions per passenger by 27pc to about 50 grammes by 2031. Based on all the world's major airlines, Ryanair ranked number 20 in the Cirium report, however, with Southwest, Delta and other large global carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and America Airlines not even making the league table. Hungary-based Wizz Air, whose CEO is Jozsef Varadi, topped the overall rankings, emitting 53.9 grammes of CO2 per available seat kilometre last year. US carrier Frontier Airlines was second, with 54.4, while Turkey's Pegasus was third, with 57.1. Member airlines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), whose director general is Willie Walsh, have pledged to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050. ADVERTISEMENT One of the ways in which it's intended that will be achieved is through the use of sustainable aviation fuel. The transition to sustainable aviation fuel will cost as much as $4.7tn (€4trn), with just 0.7pc of airlines' fuel requirements will be sourced from green fuel this year, according to IATA. About two million tonnes of SAF will be produced this year, double the amount in 2024. But total jet fuel consumption will hit 311 million tonnes in 2025. The EU's RefuelEU initiative programme obligates fuel suppliers to blend 2pc SAF into aviation fuel available at all EU airports, with the figure rising to 6pc by 2030 and 70pc by 2050. However, SAF production has not been stimulated sufficiently to meet current and forecast demand.
The Irish Sun
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Ryanair issue new advice as they are set to INCREASE baggage allowance in just weeks in ‘bring more clarity' move
RYANAIR passengers are being warned of a huge new change that is set to come into place in weeks. As 2 Ryanair will make a move which is set to make passengers happy Credit: Getty Images - Getty 2 The airline is due to increase its baggage allowance Credit: Alamy The topic of Ryanair's baggage allowance has always been a contentious subject, with many passengers giving out on But now, the READ MORE IN TRAVEL The But now, European airlines have agreed to adopt a new minimum size for cabin luggage. This means that one of The new measurements allowed on board will soon be 40cm x 30cm x 20cm - which saw an increase from 25cm to 30cm. Most read in News Travel The volume will now be 24 litres. If the airline had adjusted their dimensions in accordance with the new minimum size, Ryanair would have had to cut 10 per cent in volume. At least 18 people injured after fire in Ryanair plane at Majorca airport as passengers abandon jet by clambering over wing This is because the newly announced European minimum bag size is now 40cm x 30cm x 15cm. But now, Ryanair passengers can enjoy a larger limit. It also means that anyone who has bought a Ryanair-compatible cabin bag will still be able to use it. Ourania Georgoutsakou, Ryanair's managing director, said: "This will align A4E members with the decision of member states made last month and bring more clarity to passengers across Europe. "From city-hoppers to family travellers, everyone will benefit from the same clear rule across our members' networks." It comes days after Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary called on EU Commission President, Ryanair said that in the first half of 2025, CEO "It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on
