“PROTECT OVERFLIGHTS – KEEP EU SKIES OPEN”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (31^st May) delivered its ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office, having collected more than 1.1 million signatures from fed-up passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes.

In the first 5 months of 2023, there have been 57 days of ATC strikes (10 times more than 2022) forcing airlines to disproportionately cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland while France in particular, uses Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic/short-haul flights while disproportionately cancelling overflights. France (and all other EU states) should copy the example of Spain, Italy and Greece all of whom use Minimum Service Laws to protect overflights during ATC strikes. If this means that a greater number of domestic or short-haul flights are cancelled, then so be it, but flights over France must be protected during French ATC strikes.

Ryanair calls on the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen to act on the petition of more than 1.1 million EU passengers, and demand that all EU States protect overflights during ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain. We call on the EU Commission, under Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership to:

• Respect the strike rights of ATC unions, but
• Protect 100% of overflights (like Greece, Italy & Spain) during national ATC strikes
• If ATC strikes require cancellations, then allocate these to domestic/short-haul flights to/from the affected State
• Enforce binding arbitration for ATC disputes before strike action
• Require a 21-day notice of strike action
• Require a 72h notice of employee participation in ATC strikes to minimise passenger disruption

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“Today, just 10 weeks since we launched our ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition, we delivered over 1.1 million signatures from fed-up EU citizens calling on the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen to protect overflights during repeated ATC strikes. It is unacceptable that ATC strikes can result in the cancellation of thousands of EU passengers’ flights, while France and other EU Member States use Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic flights.

Europe’s passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes. The EU Commission must now act upon the petition of more than 1.1 million EU citizens and insist that all states protect overflights during national ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain.”

Ryanair, Italy’s No.1 airline, today (24 May) welcomed the EU General Court’s ruling on discriminatory State aid favouring Italian airlines over other EU airlines. The Italian government granted a €130m aid package only to airlines holding an operating licence issued by Italy.

While the Covid-19 crisis caused serious damage to all airlines, many national governments, including Italy, rushed through discriminatory subsidy schemes limited to their own former flag carriers, ignoring other airlines that contribute to the economy and the connectivity of the European Union. Ryanair is Italy’s largest airline yet was excluded by the Italian government from these schemes. Ryanair appealed the European Commission’s approval of these illegal subsidies to the EU General Court in 2021.

Today’s judgment, following on from the EU General Court’s recent annulments of the European Commission’s illegal clearances of a blockbuster €6bn aid package to Lufthansa and €1bn to SAS, are a victory for the EU internal market and are damning of the European Commission’s head-in-the-sand approach to massive and discriminatory bailouts of ailing flag carriers by EU Member States.

Ryanair’s spokesperson said:

“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a single market for air transport. The European Commission’s approval of the aid scheme limited to airlines with an operating licence issued by the Italian State went against the fundamental principles of EU law. Today’s judgment confirms that the Commission must act as a guardian of the level playing field in air transport and cannot sign-off discriminatory State aid under political pressure by national governments. The Court’s intervention is a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic over €40bn in discriminatory State subsidies has been gifted to EU flag carriers. Unless halted by the EU Courts in line with today’s ruling, this State aid spree will distort the market for decades to come.  Europe’s emergence from the Covid-19 crisis with a functioning single market depends on airlines being allowed to compete on a level playing field. Undistorted competition eliminates inefficiency and benefits consumers through low fares and choice. Unjustified subsidies, on the other hand, encourage ineffectiveness and will harm consumers for decades to come”.

Ryanair Holdings plc today (22 May) reported a Q4 loss of €154m but a full-year PAT of €1.43bn, compared to a PY loss of (€355m), due to strong FY traffic recovery, improving fares, industry leading cost base and advantageous fuel hedges.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, said:

ENVIRONMENT:

“Passengers who switch to Ryanair (from EU legacy airlines) can reduce their emissions by up to 50% per flight.  Over the past year, we made significant progress to become net carbon neutral by 2050.  Our new, fuel efficient, B737 “Gamechangers” (4% more seats, but 16% less fuel) increased to 98 aircraft at year end, and we began to retrofit scimitar winglets on our B737NG fleet which will further cut fuel burn by 1.5%. 

We are working hard to achieve ambitious 2030 goals of powering 12.5% of Ryanair flights with SAF.  We have recently expanded our SAF partnerships with Neste (Schiphol), OMV (Austria, Germany and CEE) and Shell (in London and Dublin) by announcing a multi-year MOU with Repsol to supply Ryanair bases in Spain.  Through A4E, and the EU, we are campaigning to accelerate reform of European ATC to eliminate avoidable flight cancellations/delays (something urgent in light of repeated French ATC strikes in Q1), which will substantially lower fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.   We urge all EU consumers to sign our “Protect Overflights” petition on www.ryanair.com.  

Ryanair is Europe’s No.1 ranked EU airline for ESG by Sustainalytics^[1].  During FY23, MSCI increased our ESG rating to ‘BBB’ (from ‘B’) and CDP reconfirmed Ryanair’s industry leading (‘B’) climate rating for 2023.

SOCIAL :

Ryanair’s commitment to maintaining jobs and keeping skills current through the 2-years Covid crisis, albeit with Govt. payroll support and temporary pay cut agreements with union partners (now restored, over 2 years sooner than planned), maximised our crew jobs security while our competitors cut thousands of jobs.  It also meant that Ryanair was fully staffed to operate its S.22 schedule, while many competitors cancelled capacity (often at short notice) in the face of severe staff shortages.  Following a strong H1 performance, Ryanair fully restored pay (some 28 months early) by agreement with our unions on new long-term multi-year pay agreements.

As Ryanair grows traffic to 225m p.a. by FY26 and 300m by FY34, our Group will create over 10,000 new jobs for highly paid pilots, cabin crew, and engineers.  Over the past year we recruited and trained over 3,000 new crew members (incl. 1,000 pilot cadets).  The Group opened new engineering facilities in Bergamo (Italy), Malta, Kaunas (Lith.) and Shannon (Ire.) and recently announced a €40m new Dublin maintenance centre (creating over 200 engineering jobs).  These new facilities and fleet growth enables us to create cadet positions and apprenticeships for school leavers, bringing through the next generation of highly skilled aviation professionals.  Ryanair Labs is actively recruiting IT & digital professionals to join our dev. teams in Dublin, Madrid, Porto and Wroclaw.

Ryanair’s strong S.22 operational resilience (despite multiple ATC delays/strikes, airport security/handling staff shortages) meant we delivered industry leading capacity recovery and OTP for our customers.  This was reflected in FY23’s CSAT score of over 85%, with “crew friendliness” our top score (rated over 95%).  This summer, in anticipation of further ATC disruptions, we have invested heavily in our operations (increased crew ratios, doubled the size of our ops centres, enhanced day-of-travel app. and we continue to improve  customer comms.) to ensure that our passengers and crews continue to enjoy Ryanair’s industry leading OTP and reliability.

GOVERNANCE:

In recent months, 3 new NEDs (Eamonn Brennan, Elisabeth Köstinger and Anne Nolan) have joined the Ryanair Board. Our Chairman (Stan McCarthy) has also refreshed our Board Committees.  Dick Milliken, having successfully overseen the rotation of external auditors (from KPMG to PwC) during FY23, has chosen not to seek re-election at the 2023 AGM in Sept.  To facilitate experienced management of the Group, orderly succession and the onboarding of new NEDs, Louise Phelan has agreed to remain on the Board for one more year.  Over the past year, Ryanair’s EU ownership has increased from 41% to 46% at year end.

GROWTH:

Ryanair’s market share has grown significantly in most EU markets as we operated 116% of our pre-Covid capacity in FY23.  Most notable gains were recorded in Italy (from 27% to 40%), Poland (26% to 36%) and Ireland (49% to 58%).  This summer we will operate our largest ever schedule (almost 2,500 routes with over 3,000 daily flights), capitalising on traffic restoration, and multi-year growth deals negotiated by our New Route teams.  Structural EU capacity reductions following numerous EU airline failures or fleet reductions during Covid, high oil prices (discouraging weaker, unhedged, airlines from adding capacity), a shortage of aircraft (new & leased) and the return of Asian and American visitors to Europe (due to the very strong US$) means that while S.23 European short-haul capacity remains below pre-Covid levels, demand is notably robust.  Forward bookings and air fares currently into S.23 are strong and we continue to urge all customers to book early to avoid rising “close-in” prices.

We expect European airlines will continue to consolidate over the next 2 years and it seems likely they will deploy capacity in a disciplined manner.  The large backlog of OEM aircraft deliveries is likely to constrain capacity growth in Europe for at least 4 more years which confers a considerable growth premium on Ryanair’s  remaining 110 B737 Gamechangers deliveries over the next 3 summers. Our widening unit cost advantage over all competitors, our fuel hedging, strong balance sheet and our very low-cost aircraft order book, as well as our proven operational resilience, creates enormous growth opportunities for Ryanair over the coming years. 

FY23 BUSINESS REVIEW:

Revenue & Costs:

FY23 scheduled revenue grew over 160% to €6.93bn.  Following a disappointing Q1 (when traffic was badly impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 Feb. 2022), strong travel demand through the remainder of the year saw traffic rise 74% at higher fares (+10% on pre-Covid).  Ancillary sales delivered a solid performance, generating just under €23 per passenger (€3.84bn).  Total FY23 revenue rose 124% to €10.78bn.  Total operating costs rose 75% to €9.20bn, driven by higher fuel costs (+113% to €3.90bn, offset by favourable fuel hedges and improved fuel burn as more Gamechangers entered the fleet), crew pay restoration and 74% traffic growth.  Ex-fuel operating costs rose 54%, which was well below traffic growth, and unit costs (ex-fuel) were just €31 as Ryanair’s cost advantage over all other EU competitors widened substantially as we predicted it would.  Our industry leading fuel hedging (over 80% hedged at approx. $64bbl) contributed significantly to the final FY23 profit outcome, saving the Group over €1.4bn. 

FY24 jet fuel requirements are almost 85% hedged at approx. $89bbl (with a mix of forwards and caps) and 25% of H1 FY25 is covered at $77bbl.  Just over 90% of FY24 €/$ opex is hedged at 1.08 and 38% of H1 FY25 is covered at 1.11.  Our B-8200 “Gamechanger” order book is fully hedged at €/$ 1.24 which further lowers the cost of these new aircraft compared to many competitors who are engaged in expensive (and getting more expensive) leasing to grow their fleet even as interest rates are rising.

Balance Sheet & Liquidity:

Our balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry with a BBB+ credit rating and €4.7bn gross cash at year-end, despite an €850m bond repayment in March 2023.  Almost all the Group’s B737 fleet are owned and 99% are unencumbered, which significantly widens our cost advantage, as interest rates and leasing costs continue to rise for competitors. Thanks to our strong booking recovery, improving air fares and Boeing delivery delays, net cash at 31 Mar. was €0.56bn (compared to net debt of €1.45bn at 31 Mar. 2022), despite over €1.9bn capex.  (Capex was c.€450m lower than expected due to Boeing delivery delays – now timed into FY24).  Earlier this month Ryanair converted its unsecured €750m syndicated term loan into a revolving credit facility (at a lower margin) with an extended maturity to May 2028 (was 2024).  Over the coming months we will repay a €750m maturing bond in Aug. and fund over €2.6bn capex (FY24 is the peak capex year under the “Gamechanger” order) while planning to retain a broadly flat net cash/debt position.  We will continue to preserve cash to minimise financing costs as we face considerable annual aircraft capex of over €2bn p.a. from 2027 onwards.

AIRCRAFT ORDERS:

Earlier this month, Ryanair signed an agreement to purchase 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10 aircraft (150 firm and 150 options), which is subject to AGM approval on 14 Sept. next.  These, fuel efficient, aircraft have 228 seats (21% more than our B737NGs) and phased deliveries between 2027 and 2033.  We expect 50% of the order will be used to replace older NGs, while the remainder will facilitate disciplined traffic growth to approx. 300m p.a. by FY34 (an 80% increase over FY23’s traffic).  Apart from delivering significant revenue growth, the additional seats (coupled with greater fuel, carbon and noise efficiency) will further widen Ryanair’s considerable unit-cost advantage over all European competitor airlines.  Given the strength of the Group’s balance sheet, our strong credit ratings and the 2-year gap between the delivery of the final B-8200 “Gamechanger” in late Dec. 2024 and the first MAX-10 in early 2027, we anticipate that capex will be funded primarily from internal resources (although the Group will remain opportunistic in its financing decisions).

As a result of Boeing’s recent B737 delivery disruptions, we expect to be short (up to 10) B-8200s for peak (June & July) S.23 schedules.  To facilitate Boeing, and to assist their resumption of scheduled B-8200 deliveries this autumn, we will take delivery of aircraft through July (and possibly into Aug.).  We hope and expect that Boeing will recover quickly from this recent delay to minimise its impact on our FY24 traffic growth and profitability.       

OUTLOOK:

This year Ryanair hopes to grow traffic to approx. 185m (+10%), although Boeing’s recent delivery delays may push some of this growth into the lower yielding H2 and may reduce this target slightly.  Our FY24 fuel bill will increase by over €1bn due to higher oil prices (despite our more fuel-efficient fleet). While we continue to enjoy a significant cost advantage over competitor airlines, we expect to record a modest increase in unit costs (ex-fuel) as annualised crew pay restoration, higher crew ratios this summer and increased enroute charges will not be fully offset by B737 Gamechanger deliveries in H1.  To date, S.23 demand is robust, and peak S.23 fares are trending ahead of last year.  Q1 fares, which benefitted from a strong Easter in April (and a very weak PY comparable due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), will be significantly higher than Q1 FY23.

Despite ongoing uncertainty over the timing of Boeing deliveries, almost 15% unhedged fuel, limited Q2 visibility and zero H2 fare visibility (normal at this time of year), we are cautiously optimistic that FY24 revenue will grow sufficiently to cover our €1bn higher fuel bill and still deliver a modest year-on-year profit increase.  This guidance remains heavily dependent upon avoiding adverse events during FY24 (such as the war in Ukraine or further, repeated, Boeing delivery delays).”

[1] Sustainalytics – a leading independent ESG & corporate governance research, ratings & analytics firm.

MARKET-LEADING ROUTE NETWORK, FREQUENCIES, AND FARES FOR CORPORATE TRAVEL

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, announced today (18 May) that it has expanded its low-fare corporate travel offering to the Amadeus Travel Platform, with an unrivalled network of over 3,000 daily flights to over 235 destinations across 36 countries available for Amadeus’ extensive B2B customer base to book now.

With record inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, it is more important now than ever that businesses manage their bottom line and with more and more companies and clients returning to in-person meetings, navigating the cost of travel is a fundamental aspect of that. However, businesses can rest assured that their travel costs won’t break the bank with Ryanair’s industry leading low fares connecting key corporate hub cities across Europe with regular morning and evening flights to ensure convenient corporate travel options and with the best on-time performance of all the major European airlines.

Not only does Ryanair offer industry-leading punctuality and substantial savings for corporate customers on their travel costs, but it will also help them manage their carbon footprint with the lowest CO₂ emissions per passenger / km of any major European airline – an achievement underpinned by its Pathway to Net Zero by 2050 decarbonisation strategy.

Ryanair is the only major airline growing in Europe and will carry more than 185m passengers this year – +30% on pre-Covid traffic – delivering market-leading connections, frequencies, punctuality, and fares in Europe.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We are pleased to now be live on the Amadeus Travel platform with Ryanair’s unrivalled network of over 3,000 flights to over 235 destinations, further expanding Ryanair’s corporate travel offering and enabling corporate customers greater access to our market leading network of routes, high frequencies, on-time performance, and unbeatable low-cost fares.

We look forward to working with Amadeus over the coming years as Ryanair grows to carrying 225m passengers annually by FY26.”

Jose-Luis Aragon, Regional VP Air Distribution Europe, Amadeus added:

“We are very happy that Ryanair has chosen to capitalize on Amadeus’ technology to support its distribution strategy. With the integration of its content to the Amadeus Travel Platform, travel sellers and corporations will have a broader choice of travel options while benefiting from smooth and seamless integration into their everyday tools and processes.”

Ryanair today (10 May) welcomed the EU General Court’s rulings on discriminatory State aid favoring Lufthansa and SAS over other EU airlines. The German government granted a blockbuster €6bn recapitalization aid package to Lufthansa, while the Swedish and Danish governments recapitalized SAS to the tune of €1bn.

While the Covid-19 crisis caused serious damage to all airlines, many national governments, including Germany, Sweden and Denmark, rushed through discriminatory subsidy schemes for their former flag carriers, ignoring other airlines that contribute to the economy and the connectivity of the European Union. Ryanair appealed the European Commission’s approval of these illegal subsidies to the EU General Court in 2021.

The EU General Court found the European Commission made a number of egregious errors in its approval of the aid to Lufthansa, including ignoring Lufthansa’s dominance in Germany, and failing to assess whether Lufthansa could have obtained financing on the markets instead of obtaining distortive State aid from the German government. In the SAS judgment, the General Court found that the recapitalisation measure lacked conditions incentivising swift exit of the governments. Today’s judgments are a victory for the EU internal market and are damning of the European Commission’s head-in-the-sand approach to massive and discriminatory bailouts of ailing flag carriers by EU Member States with deep pockets.

Ryanair’s spokesperson said:

“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a single market for air transport. The European Commission’s approval of the German recapitalisation aid to Lufthansa and the Swedish and Danish recapitalisation aid to SAS went against the fundamental principles of EU law. Today’s judgments confirm that the Commission must act as a guardian of the level playing field in air transport and cannot sign-off discriminatory State aid under political pressure by national governments. The Court’s intervention is a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic over €40bn in discriminatory State subsidies has been gifted to EU flag carriers. Unless halted by the EU Courts in line with today’s ruling, this State aid spree will distort the market for decades to come. Europe’s emergence from the COVID-19 crisis with a functioning single market depends on airlines being allowed to compete on a level playing field. Undistorted competition eliminates inefficiency and benefits consumers through low fares and choice. Unjustified subsidies, on the other hand, encourage ineffectiveness and will harm consumers for decades to come”.

10,000 NEW JOBS TO BE CREATED AS ANNUAL TRAFFIC GROWS 80% TO 300MPA BY 2034

Ryanair Holdings plc today (9 May 2023) ordered 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10 aircraft (150 firm and 150 options) for delivery between 2027 to 2033. When finalised, and subject to all options being exercised, this deal is valued at over $40bn at current list prices and is the largest order ever placed by an Irish Company for US manufactured goods. Given the size and scale of the transaction, it will be subject to shareholder approval at Ryanair’s 14 Sept. AGM.

Boeing’s new fuel efficient, B737-MAX-10 aircraft have 228 seats (21% more than the B737NG) and the phased deliveries between 2027 and 2033 will enable Ryanair to create more than 10,000 new high-paid jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers, to facilitate disciplined traffic growth of 80% from 168m in year end March 2023 to 300m p.a. by March 2034.  Ryanair expects 50% of these deliveries will replace older B737NGs, which will allow Ryanair to continue to operate one of Europe’s youngest, most fuel efficient, and environmentally sustainable aircraft fleets.

In addition to very significant revenue growth this new order offers Ryanair, the extra seats (coupled with greater fuel and carbon efficiency) will further widen Ryanair’s unit-cost advantage over all EU competitor airlines. This new order will enable Ryanair to deliver sustained traffic and tourism growth at lower fares (and lower emissions per flight) across all European countries where Ryanair continues to lead the post Covid traffic, tourism and jobs recovery.

Given the strength of the Ryanair Group’s balance sheet, its industry leading credit rating and the approx. 2-year gap between the last delivery of B-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft in FY25, and the first MAX-10 delivery in FY27, the Group anticipates that capex will be substantially funded from internal cashflows, although the Group will remain opportunistic in its fleet financing strategy.

Boeing President & CEO, Dave Calhoun, said:

“The Boeing-Ryanair partnership is one of the most productive in commercial aviation history, enabling both companies to succeed and expand affordable travel to hundreds of millions of people.  Nearly a quarter century after our companies signed our first direct airplane purchase, this landmark deal will further strengthen our partnership.  We are committed to delivering for Ryanair and helping Europe’s largest airline group achieve its goals by offering its customers the lowest fares in Europe.”

Ryanair Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:

“Ryanair is pleased to sign this record aircraft order for up to 300 MAX-10s with our aircraft partner Boeing.  These new, fuel efficient, greener technology aircraft offer 21% more seats, burn 20% less fuel and are 50% quieter than our B737-NGs. This order, coupled with our remaining Gamechanger deliveries, will create 10,000 new jobs for highly paid aviation professionals over the next decade, and these jobs will be located across all of Europe’s main economies where Ryanair is currently the No.1 or No.2 airline.

In addition to delivering significant revenue and traffic growth across Europe, we expect these new, larger, more efficient, greener, aircraft to drive further unit cost savings, which will be passed on to passengers in lower air fares. The extra seats, lower fuel burn and more competitive aircraft pricing supported by our strong balance sheet, will widen the cost gap between Ryanair and competitor EU airlines for many years to come, making the Boeing MAX-10 the ideal growth aircraft order for Ryanair, our passengers, our people and our shareholders.”

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and global energy group, Repsol, today (4 May) signed a Memo of Understanding (MOU) to advance the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Ryanair airports across Spain & Portugal further advancing the airline’s Pathway to Net Zero strategy.

While SAF is a key enabler of aviation decarbonisation, it only accounts for a small fraction of the current jet fuel usage worldwide. This agreement with Repsol gives Ryanair access to up to 155,000 tonnes (52m gallons) of SAF between 2025 and 2030 (equiv. to over 28,000 flights from Dublin to Madrid), saving approximately 490,000 tonnes in CO₂ emissions.

Ryanair has set itself an ambitious goal of using 12.5% SAF by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050, and this agreement demonstrates both Ryanair and Repsol’s commitment to working together and investing in SAF supply fuels.

Speaking at Repsol’s Headquarters in Madrid, Ryanair DAC’s CEO Eddie Wilson, said:

“SAF plays a key role in Ryanair’s Pathway to Net Zero strategy and our goal of using 12.5% SAF by 2030. Achieving this requires multiple different feedstocks and production methods and we’re encouraged that Repsol are looking at multiple solutions. This agreement helps Ryanair secure access to c.15% of this ambitious goal.

Repsol is a key sustainability partner for Ryanair, and we look forward to building on this collaboration as our Group grows to carry 225m passengers annually by FY26.”

Valero Marin, Repsol’s Executive Managing Director of Client, added:

“This collaboration agreement with Ryanair, Europe’s leading passenger airline, reinforces our commitment to the aviation sector and it is another step in Repsol’s commitment to renewable fuels. The aviation sector needs solutions such as SAF fuels to support the decarbonization process it is currently undergoing. This also consolidates our position as a multi-energy company with the objective of achieving zero net emissions by 2050”.