“I think prices will be as high or higher than before Covid,” Michael O’Leary said Thursday at a meeting of European airlines in Brussels.
The CEO of the German airline Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, indicated that it is not only the high price of fuel which affects the airlines, but also inflation. Nevertheless, Mr. Spohr pointed out, plane tickets in Europe have become much cheaper in recent decades.
Mr O’Leary also called for parts of the EU’s tougher climate targets to be postponed. The aim is to help EU countries to reduce their CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and to become climate neutral by 2050. Mr O’Leary estimates that his customers could not afford much higher environmental taxes at a time when the price of oil is around $120 a barrel.