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The Irish airline Ryanair announced on Monday a net profit of 1.4 billion euros (1.3 billion in francs) in the second quarter of its staggered financial year, compared to the same period in 2023, weighed down by cheaper tickets than expected.
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November 04, 2024 – 11:18 am
(Keystone-ATS) The “final result” of the current financial year “will depend on the absence of unfavorable developments” over the remaining two quarters, for example the risk linked to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East or further delays in deliveries from Boeing, underlined the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, quoted in a press release.
These delivery delays from the American aircraft manufacturer weighed on the results and traffic of the Irish company last year.
“Although we continue to work with Boeing executives to accelerate aircraft deliveries (…) the risk of further delivery delays remains high,” warns the CEO, who therefore considers it “reasonable to moderate” his growth objective traffic “for the 2026 financial year to 210 million passengers, compared to 215 million previously”.
Ticket prices, which had fallen by 15% in the first quarter, already affecting results, fell by 7% in the second (from July to the end of September). Passenger traffic increased by 9%.
“Forward bookings suggest that demand in the third quarter is strong and the price decline appears to be easing,” commented Mr O’Leary.
But “we remain cautious about the outlook for average rates” for this quarter, “and we expect them to be slightly lower than those” for the same period last year, he added.
Claiming to have “virtually no visibility on the fourth quarter”, the CEO noted that this quarter will not include the Easter period, like last year, which will make the comparison “difficult”.
