Ryanair has reported a profit after tax of €115 million (pre-exceptional) for Q3 FY26, as strong demand continued to support traffic and fare growth. Results published today show passenger numbers rose 6% to 47.5 million, with average fares up 4%, driving a 9% increase in revenue to €3.21 billion. While profits eased compared to a particularly strong Q3 last year, the airline pointed to disciplined cost control and continued fleet and network expansion underpinning its outlook for the year ahead.
| Q3 FY25 | Q3 FY26 | +/- | |
| Passengers | 44.9m | 47.5m | +6% |
| Load Factor | 92% | 92% | – |
| Ave. fare (€) | 43 | 44 | +4% |
| Revenue (€) | 2.96bn | 3.21bn | +9% |
| Op. Costs (pre-except.) (€) | 2.93bn | 3.11bn | +6% |
| PAT (pre-except.) (€) | 149m | 115m | -22% |
| PAT (post. except.) (€) | 149m | 30m | -80% |
Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary, said:
Revenue & Costs:
“Q3 revenue rose 9% to €3.21bn. Scheduled revenue increased 10% to €2.10bn as traffic grew 6% with 4% higher fares, thanks to strong Oct. school mid-term and close-in Christmas/New Year bookings. Ancillary revenue was solid, rising 7% to €1.11bn. Operating costs (pre-except. charge) rose 6% to €3.11bn (flat per pax). With almost all of our B-8200 “Gamechangers” delivered, other income in Q3 dipped due to the absence of delivery delay compensation in the quarter (which was incl. in PY Q3 comp.).
Q4 FY26 fuel is 84% hedged at $77bbl and we’ve now locked-in FY27 savings with 80% of our jet-fuel requirements hedged at c.$67bbl.
Balance Sheet, Liquidity & Returns:
Our balance sheet is strong with a BBB+ credit rating (both Fitch and S&P) and an unencumbered B737 fleet. At 31 Dec., gross cash was €2.4bn after €1.2bn debt repayments, €1.4bn capex and €0.6bn shareholder distributions. Liquidity is further boosted by the Group’s RCF which has c.€1bn undrawn. Net cash was €1bn, leaving the Group well positioned to fund capex and repay our last remaining €1.2bn bond in May 2026 from internal cash resources. This financial strength widens the cost gap between Ryanair and our competitors, many of whom remain exposed to expensive (long-term) finance and rising aircraft lease costs.
In May, we launched a €750m share buyback. At 31 Dec. we had purchased (and cancelled) over 13.1m shares (c.46% of programme) at a cost of over €340m. An interim div. of €0.193 per share will be paid in late Feb.
Over the last 3-years we have generated a TSR (total shareholder return) in excess of 150%, placing Ryanair comfortably in the top quartile of the Stoxx Europe 600 index TSR performers. The Group will continue to deliver disciplined and consistent capital allocation (underpinned by a strong balance sheet) as traffic grows to 300m p.a. by FY34.
FLEET & GROWTH
The Group had 206 B737-8200 “Gamechangers” in its 643 fleet at 31 Dec. We expect to receive the final 4 Gamechangers (210 total) by the end of Feb., facilitating 4% traffic growth to 216m next year (FY27). Boeing expects MAX-10 certification during summer 2026 and are increasingly confident that they will meet their contract delivery dates for Ryanair’s first 15 MAX-10s in Spring 2027, with 300 of these fuel-efficient aircraft due to deliver by Mar. 2034.
This winter, we’ve allocated Ryanair’s scarce capacity to regions and airports cutting aviation taxes and incentivising traffic growth (such as Albania, Italy, Morocco, Slovakia and Sweden) by switching flights and routes away from high cost, uncompetitive markets like Austria, Belgium, Germany and regional Spain. This trend continues into S.26, with over 106 new routes on sale (incl. 3 new bases in Rabat, Tirana and Trapani). With seats likely to sell out, we encourage all passengers to book early on www.ryanair.com to grab our lowest fares.
We expect European short-haul capacity to remain constrained to at least 2030 as the big 2 OEMs remain well behind on aircraft deliveries, Pratt & Whitney engine repair delays continue for many Airbus operators, EU airline consolidation accelerates and unprofitable airlines withdraw capacity from markets where they are unable to compete with Ryanair’s lower costs. Industry capacity constraints, combined with our widening cost advantage, strong balance sheet, low-cost aircraft orderbook and industry leading ops resilience will, we believe, facilitate Ryanair’s controlled profitable growth to 300m passengers p.a. by FY34.
ESG
During Q3 CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) upgraded Ryanair’s rating to A (was A-) and MSCI reconfirmed the Group’s ‘A’ rating. We took delivery of 7 new Gamechangers (4% more seats, 16% less fuel & CO2) and benefitted from retrofitting winglets to c.65% of our B737NG fleet (1.5% lower fuel burn and 6% less noise). All of our (409) NGs will be retrofitted by late 2026 and we expect to have all 210 Gamechangers in our fleet before the end of Feb., driving S.26 efficiencies. The Groups significant investment in new technology, coupled with ambitious SAF commitments, positions Ryanair as one of Europe’s most environmentally efficient airlines.
OUTLOOK
We now expect FY26 traffic to grow 4% to almost 208m passengers (previously 207m), due to strong demand and earlier than expected Boeing deliveries. Unit costs have performed well, and we continue to expect only modest FY26 unit cost inflation as our B-8200 deliveries, fuel hedging and effective cost control helps offset increased ATC charges, higher enviro. costs and the roll-off of last years delivery delay compensation. While Q4 doesn’t benefit from Easter, fares are trending ahead of prior year and we now believe full-year fares will exceed the +7% growth previously guided by 1% or 2%. At this stage, we are cautiously guiding FY26 PAT (pre-exceptional) in a range of €2.13bn to €2.23bn. The final FY26 outcome remains exposed to adverse external developments in Q4, incl. conflict escalation in Ukraine and the Mid. East, macro-economic shocks and any further impact of repeated European ATC strikes & mismanagement.”
