The airline said its net loss for the 12 months to 31 March 2021 would be between €800 million and €850 million.

The airline had previously forecast a loss of between €850 million and €950 million.

The group ended the financial year with passenger numbers of 27.5 million, a massive drop from the 149 million in 2019/20, due to the pandemic.

Ryanair said its balance sheet “remains strong” with a BBB credit rating and more than €3.15 billion in cash. More than 84% of the group’s owned fleet of 420 Boeing 737 aircraft are free of debt.

Looking ahead, Ryanair said Easter travel restrictions, lockdowns and a delayed traffic recovery into the peak summer 2021 season “due to the slow rollout in the EU of Covid-19 vaccines” would impede its return to profit.

These factors meant full year 2021/22 passenger numbers were “likely to be towards the lower end of our previously guided range of 80 to 120 million”. 

It added: “While it is not possible at this time to provide meaningful full year 2022 profit guidance, we do not share the recent optimism of certain analysts as we believe that the outcome for the full year is currently close to breakeven.”
 
Ryanair Group will confirm 2020/21 results on 17 May.