Ryanair profits climb to €663m despite strike turbulence 

The budget airline said that, while prices are set to rise in the quarter, the fare increase will “be much lower than in Q1” due to stronger pricing in Q2 last year when peak summer travel “snapped back” following the Ukraine invasion.

Total fleet reached 558 aircraft at by the end of June and it said it will gain 100 Gamechangers over the next three summers.

Ryanair has benefitted from ongoing post-pandemic pent-up travel demand which has helped it offset several challenges including strikes, the ongoing war in Ukraine and cost pressures.

In a trading update, Ryanair posted €663m in profit after tax for the three months to the end of June, and €3.6bn in total revenue, a 40% increase in revenue, in the same period.

Europe’s largest airline saw passenger numbers also jump by more than 11% to over €50m in that period, driven by flights around the Easter break.

The budget-airline is now expecting to grow earnings further by cashing in on holidaymakers plans over the coming months despite scorching heatwaves.

The company said that, while prices are set to rise in the quarter, the fare increase will “be much lower than in Q1” due to stronger pricing in Q2 last year when peak summer travel “snapped back” following the Ukraine invasion.

Ryanair is operating its largest ever summer schedule with over 3,200 flights and up to 600,000 passengers daily.

To facilitate this growth, Ryanair bought 300 new 737-MAX-10 aircraft from US airplane giant Boeing in a deal worth more than $40bn (€36.4bn) in addition to 90 Game Changer aircraft.

Total fleet reached 558 aircraft at by the end of June and it said it will gain 100 Gamechangers over the next three summers.

However, Boeing delivery delays in spring and in autumn this year may hit predicted customer traffic levels for the rest of 2023.

As Ryanair traffic grows, the company said it expects to create over 10,000 new jobs over the next decade.

However, new and ongoing issues could cause turbulence for Ryanair especially if cost-pressures persist and pent-up demand wears off.

The company said fleet reductions during covid, volatile oil prices, a shortage of aircraft, the return of Asian traffic and this year’s strong influx of American visitors to Europe means that European short-haul capacity remains constrained this summer.

Airport staff and crew strike action over pay deals and bonus payments have caused significant disruption for airlines in recent months also, particularly the French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strikes.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called for the European Commission to “protect overflights”, during these strikes.

Meanwhile, the ongoing war in Ukraine has had less of an impact on the Ryanair compared with the same period last year.

In that period, Ryanair reported €2.6bn in total revenue and €170m in profits after tax as it said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine damaged Ryanair’s traffic and fares.

More than €3bn was shaved off Ryanair’s worth on the open market by the end of the first six months of 2022, according to the Irish stock market figures.