Ryanair boss reveals when disruption from jet fuel supplies will kick in

Ryanair’s boss, Michael O’Leary, has said that if the Middle East conflict continues, jet fuel supplies could be disrupted in early May.

Since the war in Iran broke out in late February, prices of oil have surged, due to Iran’s block on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key shipping passage.

The more “immediate concern” was over jet fuel supplies, O’Leary warned, as he said that that rising oil costs were part of the “wider ramifications” of the conflict.

He told Sky News that “suppliers are constantly looking at the market. We don’t expect any disruption until early May, but if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June, and we hope the war will finish sooner than that and the risk to supply will be eliminated”.

“We think there is a reasonable risk, some low level, maybe 10% to 25% of our supplies might be at risk through May and June, so like everyone else in this industry, we hope the war ends sooner rather than later “If the war finishes by April and the Strait of Hormuz reopens, then there is almost no risk to supply.”

However, the airline’s boss said that unlike some of its competitors, Ryanair doesn’t expect to cancel any flights.

Previously, chief executive of Easy Jet, Kenton Jarvis, warned that European consumers should expect higher ticket prices towards the end of summer, when existing fuel hedges come to an end.

Meanwhile, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said that there are no supply chain issues for jet fuel “at this moment”.

“I was looking immediately after the conflict started, where we interact in order to get resilience into our society, into our economy, we’ve been working with all these key sectors, identifying sectors where there may well be challenges down the track”, Kyle told Times Radio.