Ryanair boss O'Leary says the era of €10 flights is over

"There's no doubt that at the lower end of the marketplace, our really cheap promotional fares - the one euro fares, the €0.99 fares, even the €9.99 fares - I think you will not see those fares for the next number of years," Mr O'Leary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We think people will continue to fly frequently.

But I think people are going to become much more price sensitive and therefore my view of life is that people will trade down in their many millions.".

However, Mr O'Leary argued road transport and shipping were bigger contributors of CO2 overall, and said the focus on reducing emissions from air travel was "misplaced".

Mr O'Leary said Ryanair had managed the situation better than other airlines because it had been "part lucky and part brave" in its decision to start recruiting and training cabin crew and pilots last November when the Omicron variant was still affecting international travel.

In the first six months of 2022, Ryanair cancelled 0.3% of flights, compared with British Airways' total of 3.5%, and Easyjet's 2.8%, according to air travel consultancy OAG.

Mr O'Leary said he had "very little sympathy" for the airports, saying they knew schedules months in advance and that security staff, which are the responsibility of the airports, required less training than pilots.

The Airports Operators Association has said airports have been recruiting staff since late last year and most passengers are now travelling with no, or minimal, disruption.

Mr O'Leary said he was "hopeful" the problems at UK airports would be resolved by next summer, but said Brexit could continue to create challenges when recruiting staff.

The UK labour market was "fundamentally broken" Mr O'Leary said and argued it was time for the UK to consider reversing "some of the stupidity of Brexit".