ANA’S 17% FEE INCREASE HAS DAMAGED PORTUGUESE GROWTH, JOBS, AND TOURISM

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (23rd Jul) called on the Portuguese airport monopoly ANA to cut its excessive fees at Portuguese airports, and deliver competitive costs to restore growth to Portugal’s economy, jobs, and tourism industry.

ANA’s monopoly decision to increase airport fees by up to +17% from Jan 2024 has damaged Portuguese growth as Ryanair was forced to close its Ponta Delgada base and reduce its Madeira base by 50% in S24, with a risk of permanent base closure. These ANA monopoly fee increases are imposed at a time when most European airports are lowering fees to recover their pre-Covid traffic and incentivise growth. These airport fee increases damage Portugal’s growth while they only line the pockets of ANA’s monopoly French-owner-VINCI.

Additionally, Ryanair called on the Portuguese Govt to immediately expand Portela airport capacity, before the construction at Lisbon’s Alcochete airport, which won’t be ready until 2031, at the earliest. The artificial passenger cap at Portela impedes growth at Lisbon and limits low fare competition and choice for Lisbon’s citizens and visitors.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“We call on the ANA airport monopoly to take action and reduce its excessive airport fees. ANA’s monopoly decision to increase fees by up to +17% is ludicrous, when most other EU states are lowering fees to attract airline investment and incentivise growth.

Ryanair is the only airline growing strongly (up to 35%) in Europe post-Covid, and we could double Portugal’s air traffic to 26m, creating hundreds of highly paid Portuguese jobs over the next 6 years. But regrettably, without ANA action and/or Govt intervention, Portugal will lose this growth to other lower cost EU airports due to ANA’s excessive fees, which are forcing airlines like Ryanair to cut flights to/from Portugal. Portugal’s regional islands are already losing out as Ryanair was forced to close its Ponta Delgada base and reduce one of our two Madeira based aircraft, a loss of $100m investment, with the base currently under risk of closure thanks to ANA’s high fees.”

Ryanair Holdings plc today (22 July) reported Q1 profit of €360m, compared to a prior-year Q1 PAT of €663m, as strong traffic growth (+10%) to 55.5m customers, was offset by half of Easter falling into PYQ4 and weaker than expected air fares in the quarter

Q1 Highlights include:

• Traffic grew 10% to 55.5m, despite multiple Boeing delivery delays.
• Rev. per pax fell 10% (ave. fare down 15% & ancil. rev. flat).
• 156x B737 “Gamechangers” in 594 fleet at 30 June (20 less than budget).
• Record Summer schedule launched (5 new bases, over 200 new S.24 routes).
• Multiple “Approved OTA” partnerships signed to protect consumers.
• Fuel hedges extended: 75% FY25 at under $80bbl saves over €450m & c.45% FY26 at $78bbl.
• Over 50% of €700m share buyback completed.

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary, said:

ENVIRONMENT:

“Ryanair is Europe’s No. 1 rated airline for ESG by Sustainalytics, and enjoys industry leading ratings from both MSCI (A) and CDP (A-).  Our new aircraft and increasing use of SAF has positioned Ryanair as one of the EU’s most environmentally efficient major airlines.  During Q1 we took delivery of 10x B737-8200 “Gamechangers” (4% more seats, 16% less fuel & CO2) and continued to retro-fit winglets to our B737NG fleet (target 409 by 2026), reducing fuel burn by 1.5% and noise by 6%.  In April we extended our partnership with Trinity College Dublin’s Sustainable Aviation Research Centre (“TCD”) to 2030.  TCD’s facility supports the acceleration of SAF deployment, and funds important non-CO2 research.  Recently proposed EU legislation confining the monitoring of aviation’s non-CO2 impact to only intra-EU flights (yet again exempting long haul flights, which account for the majority of EU aviation emissions) is indefensible and undermines the EU’s green agenda and credibility.  We call on the EU Commission to adopt a “polluter pays” principle and to end the indefensible exemption of polluting long-haul flights from EU enviro. regulation.

In the last 10 days of June we suffered a significant deterioration in European ATC capacity which caused multiple flight delays and cancellations, especially on first wave morning flights, making it more urgent than ever that the new EU Commission and Parliament deliver long delayed reform of Europe’s hopelessly inefficient ATC services.  This can be achieved by properly staffing of Europe’s ATC services and protecting overflights (during national strikes) which would deliver revolutionary environmental improvements in EU air travel.

FLEET & GROWTH:

The Ryanair Group had 156x B737 Gamechangers at 30 June and we expect to increase this to over 160 by the end of July (20 short of our contracted S.24 deliveries).  We continue to work with Boeing (Stephanie Pope & Brian West) and have noted an improvement in the quality and frequency of deliveries during Q1.  While there remains a risk that Boeing deliveries could slip further, our focus has now turned to ensuring timely delivery of our remaining 50 Gamechangers ahead of S.25.

This summer we’re operating our largest ever schedule with over 200 new routes (and 5 new bases) as we deliver as much low fare growth as possible for our passengers and airport partners in FY25.  We’ve launched a new Tangier base and, following Calabria’s recent decision to abolish the Municipal Tax at its regional airports, we will base a second aircraft in both Reggio Calabria (from W.24) and Lamezia (for S.25). To facilitate this growth, Lauda has extended op. leases on 3 of its A320s to 2028.  We will also continue to take delivery of B737s through Aug. and Sept. even though we will be unable to schedule these aircraft for peak Summer flights.

We expect European short-haul capacity to remain constrained for some years as A320 operators work through significant P&W engine repairs, OEMs struggle with delivery backlogs, and airline consolidation continues, including Lufthansa’s recently approved takeover of ITA (Italy), IAG’s delayed takeover of Air Europa (Spain) and the upcoming sale of TAP (Portugal).  These capacity constraints, combined with our significant unit cost advantage, a strong balance sheet, low-cost aircraft orders and industry leading OTP, will underpin a decade of low-fare profitable growth to 300m passengers by FY34. 

Q1 FY25 BUSINESS REVIEW:

Revenue & Costs:

Q1 scheduled revenue fell 6% to €2.33bn.  While traffic grew 10% to 55.5m, our customers enjoyed substantial savings thanks to 15% lower fares due, in part, to the absence of the first half of Easter which fell into March, and more price stimulation than we had previously expected.  Ancillary sales rose 10% to €1.30bn (c.€23.40 per passenger).  As a result, total revenue declined 1% to €3.63bn.  Operating costs increased 11% to €3.26bn, marginally ahead of traffic growth, as fuel hedge savings offset higher staff and other costs which was in part due to Boeing delivery delays.

Our FY25 fuel volumes are 75% hedged at just under $80bbl and 85% of €/$ opex is hedged at $1.11, locking in over €450m savings.  We have taken advantage of recent oil price weakness to increase our FY26 fuel hedging to almost 45% at c.$78bbl.  This strong hedge position helps insulate the Group from significant fuel price volatility.

Balance Sheet & Liquidity:

Ryanair’s balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry with a BBB+ credit rating (both S&P and Fitch) and €4.49bn gross cash at quarter end, despite €0.50bn capex and €0.25bn share buybacks. Net cash increased to €1.74bn at 30 June (€1.37bn at 31 Mar.). Our owned B737 fleet (566 aircraft) is fully unencumbered, widening our cost advantage over competitor airlines, many of whom are exposed to expensive lease and financing costs.

SHAREHOLDER RETURNS:

A €700m share buyback commenced in May.  To date we have completed over 50% of the programme.  When complete, Ryanair will have returned over €7.8bn to shareholders since 2008.  A final dividend of €0.178 per share is due to be paid in Sept.

Ryanair’s ADSs are traded on NASDAQ.  Following a recent review, the Board has approved a change to the ADS ratio so that one ADS will equal two Ordinary Shares, a 2:1 ratio (currently 5:1).  This change will be formally announced, and implemented, in the coming weeks and requires no action from ADS holders.  The purpose of the change is to bring the Ryanair ADS price broadly in line with current market norms.  As the ADS price will be reduced, they should be more attractive to new investors which potentially will increase ADS liquidity.  

OUTLOOK:

FY25 traffic is expected to grow 8% (198m to 200m passengers), subject to no worsening Boeing delivery delays.  As previously guided, we expect unit costs to rise modestly this year as ex-fuel costs (incl. pay & productivity increases, higher handling & ATC fees and the impact of multiple B737 delivery delays) are substantially offset by our fuel hedge savings, and rising net interest income, which widen Ryanair’s cost advantage over its competitors.  While Q2 demand is strong, pricing remains softer than we expected, and we now expect Q2 fares to be materially lower than last summer ( previously expected to be flat to modestly up).  The final H1 outcome is, however, totally dependent on close-in bookings and yields in Aug. and Sept.  As is normal at this time of year, we have almost zero Q3 and Q4 visibility, although Q4 will not benefit from last year’s early Easter.  It is too early to provide meaningful FY25 PAT guidance, although we hope to be able to do so at our H1 results in Nov.  The final FY25 outcome remains subject to avoiding adverse developments during FY25 ( especially given continuing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, repeated ATC short-staffing and capacity restrictions, or further Boeing delivery delays).

JURY RULES THAT BOOKING.COM VIOLATED U.S. COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT (CFAA) WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD RYANAIR

JURY DISMISSES BOOKING.COM’S COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST RYANAIR ARGUING DEFAMATION, AND UNFAIR COMPETITION

Ryanair Holdings Plc, today (Fri 19 Jul), welcomed the unanimous verdicts of the jury in the Delaware District Court, which last evening unanimously ruled in favour of Ryanair’s claims that Booking.com had violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, causing loss to Ryanair. The jury also ruled that Booking.com had done so knowingly with “intent to defraud”, and that Ryanair had suffered economic harm as a result of Booking.com’s unlawful screenscraping activity.

The Delaware Court jury also dismissed all Booking.com’s counterclaims against Ryanair, which included claims for defamation, unfair competition, and deceptive trade practices. These Delaware Court rulings prove that Booking.com was knowingly engaged in unlawful screenscraping of the Ryanair.com website, with an intent to defraud Ryanair. Ryanair has long complained about the deceptive practices of OTA Pirates like Booking.com, who used intermediate software providers to scrape Ryanair’s website, and then use this information to overcharge consumers for Ryanair air fares and/or ancillary services but mask these anti-consumer practices by making bookings using fake customer emails and fake customer payment cards.   

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair and our customers warmly welcome yesterday’s unanimous jury ruling in the Delaware Court, which comprehensively (found in favour of Ryanair, proving that the travel industry giant Booking.com had illegally “scraped” Ryanair’s website, and did so with an intention to defraud both Ryanair and ordinary consumers, which was in breach of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. We expect that this ruling will end the internet piracy and overcharging perpetrated on both airlines and other travel companies and consumers by the unlawful activity of OTA Pirates like Booking.com.

It is unacceptable that global giants, like Booking.com (mkt cap $133 billion), have been engaged in these illegal and deceptive practices for many years with the intent to defraud both Ryanair and consumers. Ryanair has fought to protect consumers and ensure that they have direct access to Ryanair’s low fares, and our low-price ancillary services without OTAs, like Booking.com and others, inserting themselves into this relationship in order to overcharge unsuspecting consumers who believe they are booking directly with Ryanair, but in fact are being duped into booking (at inflated prices) via these OTA Pirates like Booking.com.  

We also welcome the Delaware Courts rejection of Booking.com’s counterclaims that they had been defamed by Ryanair when calling them an OTA Pirate. We hope these Delaware Court rulings will now see an end to OTA Pirates illegally screenscraping travel websites like Ryanair.com, and will force consumer agencies across the UK and Europe to finally take action to outlaw this illegal screenscraping and over charging of consumers for flights and ancillary services.

This ruling is a great victory for low fare air travel, and it’s a great win for the travelling public as well. We sincerely thank the District Court of Delaware and the jury for their ruling, which completely vindicates Ryanair’s case against Booking.com on behalf of our customers. We now call on Booking.com’s vastly overpaid CEO Glen Fogel ($46m pay in 2023) that he and his company will cease scraping the Ryanair.com website and stop overcharging consumers with inflated air fares and ancillary services, now that Booking.com has been found to be in breach of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (18 July) announced its latest “Approved OTA” partnership with one of the world’s largest travel technology companies, Expedia Group. This collaboration enables Expedia Group to offer Ryanair’s low fare flights to its travellers, enhancing traveller choices and experiences for those seeking value and convenience.

This is great news for Expedia Group travelers who wish to book Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 240+ destinations, and impeccable service. Simplifying the booking process, travellers booking Ryanair flights via Expedia Group have the option of a holiday package or standalone booking, with a path to Ryanair. This ensures Expedia Group travellers have access to their myRyanair account and essential flight updates directly without needing to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process. Travellers can expect to book Ryanair flights directly through Expedia Group in the coming months.

Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady said:  

“We are pleased to announce our latest “Approved OTA” partnership with global travel tech leader, Expedia Group. Through this new agreement, Expedia Group travellers will be able to book Ryanair’s low-fare flights as part of their holiday packages or standalone bookings, with the guarantee of full price transparency and full access to their booking. We look forward to working with Expedia Group and carrying their customers onboard our market-leading network of Ryanair flights in the coming months.”

Expedia Group’s SVP for Trips Partnerships, Susan Spinney said:

“This marks a significant step in our partnership with Ryanair. Earlier this year, we collaborated on ‘Ryanair Rooms,’ allowing Ryanair travelers to seamlessly book a hotel alongside their flight. Soon Ryanair flights will be available directly on Expedia Group’s marketplace, expanding the way travelers’ benefit from this powerful combination. Ryanair’s extensive network of budget-friendly flights, together with Expedia Group’s comprehensive travel offerings, creates an unbeatable value proposition for travelers seeking affordability and convenience.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (12 Jul) announced it is seeking candidates for several exciting engineering opportunities, including sheet metal workers, B1 and B2 engineers, aircraft mechanics, and officer-based engineering roles as the airline continues to grow to carry 300m passengers by 2034.

To help find the perfect candidates for these exciting new engineering roles, Ryanair is holding an open day at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast on Wednesday (17 July) at 12:30. This informative event will allow candidates to meet Ryanair’s talented teams and learn about the airline, its growth plans, staff travel benefits, excellent salary packages and fantastic career opportunities.

Interested candidates should register at careers.ryanair.com

EUROPE’S NO.1 AIRLINE ADDS 2 AIRCRAFT, 15 ROUTES AND 50% GROWTH ACROSS LAMEZIA TERME, REGGIO CALABRIA, AND CROTONE AIRPORTS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT OCCHIUTO’S SCRAPPING OF TAX

Ryanair, Europe and Italy’s No.1 airline, is thrilled to respond to the Calabrian region’s forward-thinking and innovative decision to abolish the Italian State’s Municipal/Tourist Tax with today’s (11 July) announcement. This strategic move will see the addition of an extra Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme (US$200m investment), and the introduction of new routes across all three Calabrian Airports (Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria).

Ryanair welcomes President Occhiuto’s pragmatic approach, transforming Calabria into the region with the lowest access costs in Italy. Italian regions like Calabria and Friuli Venezia-Giulia are scrapping the burden of the municipal tax, unlocking the full touristic potential of their regions. It is now time for all regions, but most specifically Sicily and Sardinia, to scrap this regressive tax, which is levied on all passengers, adults, and children.

Ryanair in response of scrapping the municipal tax will deliver:

• 4 based aircraft (US$400m tot. invest.) – 2 a/c in Reggio Calabria & 2 a/c in Lamezia Terme
• 50% growth (to 1m passengers)
• 15 new routes for the Region
• Supp. over 1200 jobs in the Region
• Record capacity, connectivity, and low fares for Calabria Region

Ryanair will deliver immediate growth for coming winter season including 11 new routes. 7 from Reggio Calabria to London Stansted, Brussels Charleroi, Milano Malpensa, Pisa, Frankfurt Hahn, Katowice and Paris Beauvais; 2 from Lamezia to Tirana and Brussels Charleroi; and 2 from Crotone to Venice Treviso and Turin. Additionally, for Summer’s 25 Ryanair will deliver additional 4 new routes from Lamezia Terme to Trieste, Madrid, Wroclaw and Bucharest.

In Catanzaro, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“We are thrilled to announce Ryanair’s significant investment and expansion in the Calabria region, following President Occhiuto’s forward-thinking decision to abolish the municipal tax. This strategic move enables us to rapidly increase our capacity in the region, adding an additional Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme, launching new routes across the Region.

Our Winter 2024 schedule for Calabria will deliver 82% growth compared to Winter 2023, with three based aircraft and a total investment of $300 million. Furthermore, we plan to base another aircraft in Lamezia Terme for Summer 2025, bringing our total to four based aircraft in the region and increasing our total investment to $400 million. This will deliver 50% growth next year for the region, supporting over 1,200 jobs and contributing to the economic growth of the region by enhancing tourism, improving connectivity, and offering lower fares to both citizens and visitors.

Ryanair now calls on all Italian regions to scrap this regressive tax. Sicily and Sardinia in particular should follow the positive example of Calabria and revolutionise their connectivity by scrapping the tax. Ryanair could deliver an additional 3 million seats annually to Sicily and 2 million to Sardinia, transforming connectivity on a year-round basis, as we did in Trieste and will now do in Calabria.

To celebrate this remarkable growth in Calabria, we have launched a three-day seat sale with fares starting from €29.99, available exclusively at ryanair.com. We look forward to welcoming millions of passengers on board our flights to and from Calabria, experiencing the benefits of our investment and the region’s progressive policies.”

President Roberto Occhiuto said:

“We are truly proud of the great attention that Ryanair, the leading low-cost airline in Italy and Europe, continues to give to our Region.

For the upcoming winter season, there will be an extraordinary increase in connections to and from Calabria, with many European and Italian cities, and this represents the well-deserved recognition for the efforts we have been making over the past two and a half years to continuously increase the flow of tourists to our Region.

Today, we are very happy to once again host Eddie Wilson in Calabria, not only a great CEO but a friend with whom we want to develop and grow air routes within our airport system, across all three regional airports, and create the ideal conditions for visitors to experience the best of travel in Calabria and share it with many new tourists.

For this reason, our commitment is also linked to improving accessibility and internal mobility services, as demonstrated by the agreement reached just a few weeks ago with the automotive services company Uber.

We are confident that thanks to the air transport policies we are implementing and the significant investments made by companies like Ryanair in our airports, the coming months will not only see an exponential increase in tourists in Calabria, but also significant growth in economic and employment terms throughout our territory.”

Marco Franchini, SACAL Airport CEO, said:

“From August 1st, with the abolition of the municipal surcharge, Calabria will be able to offer advantageous rates for the airports of Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria. An historic and innovative decision achieved through the determination of President Roberto Occhiuto, that, together with the infrastructural transformation of the airports, has identified the Calabrian airport system as the absolute protagonist of the region’s economic development”.

Following unprecedented demand from fans, Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 airline, today (11 July) added over 1,500 extra seats to/from Berlin ahead of the highly anticipated Euro 2024 Championship Final taking place between England and Spain this Sunday (14 July).

Ryanair’s Head of Comms, Jade Kirwan said:

“To facilitate the unprecedented demand from England fans looking to cheer on the Three Lions in the Euro Championship Final against Spain in Berlin this Sunday (14 July), we’ve added over 1,500 extra seats between London Stansted and Berlin. These extra flights are expected to sell out quickly, so avoid disappointment and book now at ryanair.com.”