Ryanair’s O’Leary warns European airlines could fail if jet fuel price doesn't fall

ryanair ceo michael o'leary told cnbc on thursday that european airlines will fail if jet fuel prices stay high through summer. his airline hedged 80% of its fuel, so it's protected. but he predicted "real failures" for competitors. jet a-1 fuel was $80 a barrel in march. it's now $150. the price surged after the strait of hormuz was blockaded following the middle east war starting feb 28. the average jet fuel price hit $179 per barrel for the week ending april 24, per iata. "if pricing stays higher for longer this summer, we think a number of our airline competitors in europe are going to face real financial difficulties," o'leary said. "i think there will be failures." he added that failures would probably be good for ryanair's business in the medium term. easyjet took on £25 million in extra fuel costs in march and posted a headline loss between £540 million and £560 million for the six months to march 31. it hedged 70% of summer fuel at $706 per metric ton. lufthansa cut 20,000 short-haul flights through october to save 40,000 metric tons of fuel. sas cancelled 1,000 flights in april. klm reduced capacity by 80 flights.