Ryanair posts profit as demand for travel returns

The airline reported a profit after tax of €170m from April to June, its first financial quarter of the year. In Q1 2021, the company recorded a loss of €273m.

However, this year’s profit remained well below the profit after tax of €243m in the first quarter of 2020.

Revenues soared by 602pc in the quarter compared to the same period in 2021 to reach €2.6bn.

Customer numbers also recovered strongly as restrictions were removed and the appetite for travel returned.

Passenger numbers rose to 45.5 million in Ryanair’s first quarter of the financial year from 8.1 million last year. This marked a 461pc growth and is also 9pc ahead of pre-Covid levels.

Load factor also increased to 92pc compared to 73pc in the same quarter last year.

However, operating costs rose 250pc to €2.38bn, which included a 560pc increase in fuel costs to €1bn.

The airline said that Easter bookings and fares were “badly damaged” by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

This has eased somewhat as consumers look for a summer getaway, with summer 2022 capacity on sale 115pc ahead of summer 2019 levels.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary pointed out that the emergence of the Omicron variant last winter and the war in Ukraine illustrated how “fragile” the air travel market remains.

He highlighted the risk of new Covid variants in Autumn.

The airline aims to grow traffic to 165 million across the financial year, a rise of 11pc on pre-Covid levels of 148 million.

However, it could not provide a financial outlook at present, with O’Leary stating: “Given our later booking profile, the lack of visibility, volatile oil prices, potential Covid, geopolitical and supply chain risks, it is too soon to provide meaningful FY23 [profit after tax] guidance at this time.”

Ryanair has also experienced strike action in some European markets, with the airline stating that it has now reached pay agreements with 80pc of pilots and 70pc of cabin crews. It added: “We hope to conclude agreements with the small remaining balance in the near future.”

Last week, Ryanair signed a wage deal with Spanish and French pilot unions but in Brussels’ two airports, pilots were on strike last weekend.

Ryanair also highlighted ongoing airport disruption across some of its routes but said it remained confident it could operate “almost 100pc" of scheduled flights.