Ryanair chief to change jet fuel hedging strategy after €900m loss

London, (Quantum Commodity Intellgence) - Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said Wednesday that the airline would cut back on buying jet fuel on a forward basis after the airline incurred a €900 million loss last year due to collapsing oil prices and passenger numbers.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the outspoken leader of one of the world's biggest airlines said that the practice of hedging 90% of expected demand would be changed.

"A defective hedge last year cost nearly €900 million, so we will never hedge 90% of our monthly requirements ever again," he said in an interview streamed online and quoted by Reuters.

Airlines typically hedge months and in some cases more than a year in advance and as a result have incurred huge losses over the past 12 months as air travel collapsed due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.

The loss of revenue has dovetailed with a collapse in oil prices has left many airlines selling back jet fuel swaps into a falling market.

Ryanair is Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers and the world's fourth largest, according to global airline association IATA.