Volatile oil prices, a shortage of aircraft, the strong return of Asian and US visitors to Europe, and the ongoing French air traffic control strikes have put pressure on the short-haul market, Ryanair chief executive O’Leary said on Monday (24 July).
The comments come as the low-cost carrier’s profit after tax soared 290% in the three months ended 30 June, going up to €663 million (£571.7 million), while traffic went up 11% to 50.4 million passengers.
Quarterly data also shows that fares went up 42% to €49 thanks to a strong Easter and the UK coronation bank holiday in early May, with load factor going up to 95%. “Ryanair’s cost advantage over EU competitors continues to widen,” O’Leary said.
The airline also said it was operating its largest-ever summer schedule, with more than 3,200 daily flights.
“Demand is robust and fares remain ahead of last year as we move into peak summer 23, although this trend seems weaker in the second quarter than it was in the first,” said O’Leary, while explaining summer fares will be higher by a low-digit percentage.
Ryanair also said it was expecting its annual traffic to reach 183.5 million passengers, slightly less than the 185 million customers originally predicted, due to Boeing delivery delays.
Nevertheless, it remained “cautiously optimistic” of slightly increasing its profit after tax for the full year.
“It is, however, still too early to provide meaningful FY24 profit after tax guidance,” O’Leary said. “We hope to be in a position to do so at our H1 results in November.”
