Profits at Ryanair soared as getaways over the Coronation weekend and a strong Easter powered a strong first quarter at the budget airline, where bigger planes could mean lower fares this winter.
The Irish carrier reported profit of €663 million (£573 million ) for the first quarter, up from €170 million from a year earlier, when Russia’s war in Ukraine kept travellers at home.
Over 50 million people flew with the company in the 12 weeks to the end of June, leaving it on course to keep its crown as Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers. The proportion of seats sold – or load factor – hit 95%, up from 92%. Revenue reached €2.6 billion, up 40%. The average fare rose 42% to €49 (£42).
Ryanair flies to around 130 destinations from its London hub at Stansted, and to 225 in total from all of its airports, which include Gatwick. It said today that it was running its biggest ever summer schedule, with 3,200 flights carrying 600,000 people a day across its network, including new bases at Belfast, Lanzarote & Tenerife.
It is also using new planes, Boeing 737 8200s, which it calls “Gamechangers”, due to their lower carbon emissions and bigger capacity. It took delivery of 21 of the aircraft in the first quarter, taking the size of its fleet to 119, with more on the way into winter.
According to chief executive Michael O’Leary, more seats could mean cheaper seats in time for Christmas.
“We are conscious that consumers may require some fare stimulation to fill our 25% greater seat capacity this winter, compared to pre-Covid, following months of rising mortgage rates and consumer price inflation.”
He said that would leave Ryanair “uniquely positioned … to capture further market share, albeit at lower fares this winter.”
With the peak-season summer getaway getting underway as the schools break up, O’Leary continued to call “urgent reform” of what it calls Europe’s “inefficient air-traffic control” system. Striking control room staff are seen as one of the biggest threats to holidaymakers in the second summer free of Covid restrictions, even to flights heading through nations’ airspace without taking off or landing.
O’Leary claims the backing of his passengers in the call change.
“In May we submitted a petition to the European Commission, signed by over 1 million of our customers, calling on the EU to protect ‘overflights’ during national ATC strikes,” he said.
“We believe this would reduce flight delays, cut flight times, and unnecessary CO2 emissions.
“Over the past 6 months, French air traffic control alone, has held 60 days of strikes, during which the French government used minimum service laws to protect local/domestic flights while disproportionately cancelling overflights. We, and our customers, call on the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to protect the single market for air travel and minimise the impact of air traffic control strikes on EU citizens.”
