Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said air fare increases up to the end of September will be “much lower” than seen in the three months to the end of June.
His comments came as Ryanair issued its latest first quarter financial results – covering the three months to the end of June.
Mr O’Leary – Ryanair’s group chief executive – said: “While Q2 bookings are strong, the fare increase in Q2 will be much lower than in Q1 due to much stronger PY Q2 pricing in FY23 when peak summer travel snapped back strongly following the Ukraine invasion. We currently expect Q2 fares will be higher than the prior year Q2 but by a low double digit percentage. We noted a softening in close-in fares in late June and early July.”
Ryanair saw a 290% year-on-year surge in post-tax profit for the first quarter – from €170m last year to €663m; although last year’s figure was heavily impacted by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and this year was boosted by the extra public holidays in the UK and a strong Easter.
Ryanair expects passenger numbers, for its full financial year up to the end of next March, to grow by 9% to around 183.5 million people. Delivery delays for new Boeing planes have slightly lowered that expectation from its originally 185 million target.
Despite the uncertainty over new plane deliveries, Ryanair tentatively expects full year post-tax profits to be “modestly ahead” of last year.
Mr O’Leary said management remains “cautiously optimistic” about that outcome.
