The carrier said the emergence of Omicron in late November and “media hysteria it generated in December” significantly weakened Christmas and new year bookings and fares.
“As a result, December traffic slowed to just 9.5 million, with a lower 81% load factor, well behind the expected target of 11 million guests.”
Ryanair was detailing its third quarter results, with a net loss of €96 million for October, November and December. The figure is an improvement on the €321 million lost in the same period last year. Load factors overall averaged 84%.
“Q3 got off to a good start with strong bookings for the October mid-term break, and less confusion about the UK government’s absurd ‘traffic light’ system,” Ryanair said.
It added a “load active/yield passive recovery strategy” saw October traffic rise to 11.3 million (84% load factor). “Our November load factor improved to 86% (10.2 million guests), albeit at lower fares.”
Ryanair said had cut January capacity by 33% on 22 December, lowering the January traffic target from 10 million to 6-7 million.
“We hope that the rollout of booster vaccines across Europe in recent weeks, and growing evidence that Omicron is less virulent than other variants, will enable EU governments to remove travel restrictions and restore consumer confidence in inter-EU air travel well in advance of Easter and peak summer 2022,” the airline said.
Ryanair said it had extended “low-cost long term growth deals” until 2028 with Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands airports.
The airline said the booking trend “remains very late and close-in, so Q4 traffic requires significant price stimulation at lower prices”.
Ryanair’s full year forecast remained unchanged at just under 100 million passengers, with a loss of €250-€450 million.
