Ryanair has reported a net loss of €273 million for the first quarter of 2021 but says that it is experiencing a “strong” recovery following the rollout of the EU Digital Covid Certificates in July.
The carrier says that “Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc on our business during Q1 with most Easter flights cancelled and a slower than expected easing of EU government travel restrictions into May and June.”
Its losses of €273 million in the three months to June 30 are compared to losses of €185 million for the equivalent period in 2020.
Ryanair carried 8.1 million passengers in Q1 at a load factor of 73 per cent – compared to 500,000 in the corresponding period last year.
Total revenue for Q1 was €371 million, up almost 200 per cent on the same period last year.
However, operating costs have risen 116 per cent to €675 million, driven primarily by variable costs such as fuel, airport & handling and route charges.
Ryanair Holdings CEO, Michael O’Leary, said: “Based on current (close-in) bookings, we expect traffic to rise from over 5 million in June to almost 9 million in July, and over 10 million in August, as long as there are no further Covid setbacks in Europe.”
