SAS TRANSFER TRAFFIC EXEMPT DESPITE BEING THE BIGGEST POLLUTERS

Ryanair, Europe’s no.1 airline has today (27 Nov) condemned the Danish Govt’s proposal to impose a fake ‘eco tax’ of up to DKK 100 per departing passenger from 2025 – 2030, but inexplicably exempts transfer passengers who take two flights and emit more than double the CO₂ emissions.

The Danish Govt has designed this discriminatory fake ‘eco tax’ to tax the most eco-efficient form of air travel (point-to-point) while exempting the most polluting airlines, like SAS, whose transfer passengers take two flights and emit more than double the CO₂ emissions of those flying on Ryanair’s efficient point-to-point services. The Danish Govt claim they want to incentive green tech, yet its fake ‘eco tax’ completely fails to recognise the use of new tech aircraft, like Ryanair’s “Gamechangers”, which cut emissions by 16%, noise by 40% and carry 4% more airline passengers.

Ryanair already pays hundreds of millions (€833m in FY23) in environmental taxes every year. Efficient short haul point-to-point air travel cannot keep picking up the tab for decarbonising aviation while the most polluting connecting passengers pay nothing – eco taxes must be applied fairly to all airline passengers.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“It is inexplicable that the Danish Govt expect their citizens/visitors flying point-to-point to/from Denmark to pick up the tab on emissions, when transfer passengers taking two flights and emitting more than double the CO₂ emissions will be exempt from this fake ‘eco tax’.

Despite the Danish Govt’s claims, this fake ‘eco tax’ will do nothing for the environment but irreparably damage regional Danish airports, like Aalborg, Aarhus and Billund, who do not have any transfer traffic and are fully dependent on efficient, point-to-point air travel, by making them even more expensive than EU competitor airports. Danish citizens/visitors already face an energy and cost-of-living crisis without being hit with this fake ‘eco tax’ to subsidise the Danish Govt in propping up SAS who’s most polluting transfer passengers flying through Copenhagen Airport pay zero eco taxes.

The Danish Govt should scrap its plans to impose this fake ‘eco tax’ and do something useful, like introduce airport charging schemes that reward eco-efficient airlines, like Ryanair, and penalise eco-polluters like SAS.”

Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 airline, has today (22 Nov) announced that it has added London-Stansted to its biggest ever winter schedule to/from Cornwall. This exciting new winter route will operate twice weekly from Sun, 17^th Dec, building on the airlines current winter 23/24 route offering of Alicante, Dublin, Faro, and Malaga.

Ryanair’s Cornwall Winter 23/24 schedule delivers:

• 5 routes, incl. 4 new to Dublin, Faro, Malaga & London-Stansted
• Supporting over 120 local jobs
• Cornwall traffic to grow to over 200K passengers p.a.

Ryanair is the UK’s No.1 airline operating over 440 routes and carrying over 52m passengers p.a. to/from the UK on its fleet of 107 UK-based aircraft ($10.7bn investment), driving year-round connectivity and inbound tourism which supports over 37,000 UK jobs.

With the addition of Ryanair’s new London-Stansted – Cornwall route for winter 23/24, Ryanair continues to drive Cornwall’s economic recovery through its delivery of year-round tourism, regional investment, and support of over 120 local jobs.

Cornish residents can now book to travel on Ryanair’s new route to/from the UK capital at Ryanair.com, and experience all that London has to offer whether travelling for business, to visit friends/family, or to do a spot of Christmas shopping before the big day.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan, said:

“Ryanair is pleased to build on our biggest ever winter schedule for Cornwall with the addition of our new London-Stansted route for winter 23/24, providing even more choice and value to our customers in the south-west as we continue to drive Cornwall’s economic recovery through our delivery year-round tourism, regional investment, and support of over 120 local jobs.

We first introduced our Cornwall – London-Stansted route for summer 24, and having seen such strong demand, we decided to bring it back for the winter season too. The winter route will operate twice weekly from Sun, 17^th Dec ensuring that our customers in the south-west can continue to access the UK’s capital conveniently and on Ryanair’s infamously low fares, whether travelling for business, to see family and friends or for a spot of Christmas shopping ahead of the big day.”

RECRUITMENT EVENT ON TUES, 28^TH NOVEMBER

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, has today (20 Nov) announced a major recruitment drive for 50 cabin crew to join its Belfast base as customers continue to flock to Ryanair’s low fares, unrivalled route choice and exemplary service.

To help find the perfect candidates for these exciting cabin crew roles, Cabin Crew International, Ryanair’s recruitment partner is holding an exciting recruitment open day in Belfast (at the Radisson Blu Hotel, The Gasworks, 3 Cromac Place, BT7 2JB) on Tues, 28^th Nov starting from 10.30.

Attendees will learn about life as cabin crew at Europe’s No.1 airline group and what the role can offer them, including Ryanair’s industry leading 5 days on / 3 days off roster, excellent remuneration package, fast track career opportunities and discounted travel benefits giving crew the opportunity to travel across Ryanair’s industry leading network of 230+ routes.

For more information, visit careers.ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Darrell Hughes, said:

“We are delighted to announce a major recruitment drive for 50 cabin crew positions in Belfast and we invite those interested in applying to come along to the recruitment event taking place on Tues, 28^th November, to meet the team and learn more about these exciting roles.

As Europe’s No. 1 airline, these cabin crew opportunities offer candidates the chance to secure the best cabin crew jobs in aviation, where hard work is rewarded with fast-track promotions. Our cabin crew enjoy industry-leading “5 days on, 3 days off” rosters – equivalent to a bank holiday every week – fantastic remuneration packages, outstanding career development opportunities and world class training.

We look forward to welcoming new cabin crew on board in the lead up to Summer ‘24 as Ryanair continues to grow to carry 300 million passengers by 2034.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (19 Nov) called on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during the French ATC strike taking place Mon, 20^th Nov.

So far in 2023, there has been 65 days of ATC strikes (over 13 times more than in 2022) forcing airlines to cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK, while France in particular uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights. This is unfair. France (and all other EU states) should protect overflights during ATC strikes as they do in Spain, Italy and Greece, and cancel flights to/from the affected State.

Ryanair calls on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during ATC strikes and calls on passengers to join its call on the EU Commission by signing Ryanair’s “Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open” petition as over 2m fed up passengers have already done.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

‘It is completely unacceptable that there have been 65 days of ATC strikes this year (13 times more than in all of 2022) which have caused the cancellation of thousands of flights at short notice, unfairly disrupting EU passengers’ travel plans. Despite repeated calls on Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers and overflights during these ATC strikes, she has failed to take any action to do so.

As a result, even more passengers will have their flights cancelled at short notice due to this French ATC strike on Mon, 20^th Nov, despite not even flying to/from France. This is because France unfairly uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights while forcing cancellations on overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK. We have no problem with French ATC unions exercising their right to strike, but the EU Commission should insist that cancellations due to French ATC strikes are allocated to French flights, not those overflying France en route to another unrelated EU destination.

EU passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes, as evidenced by the 2m EU passenger signatures on our Protect Passengers – Keep EU Skies Open petition calling on Ursula von der Leyen to protect overflights and keep EU skies open during ATC strikes. There is no excuse for EU passengers not flying to/from the affected member state to bear the burden of ATC strikes that are completely unrelated to them and Ursula von der Leyen must immediately put a stop to this or answer to the 2m passengers who she has failed to protect by offering her resignation.”

OVER 700,000 ESN BOOKINGS IN 7 YEARS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) today (9^th Nov) announced that they will continue their partnership for a seventh year, further helping European students to travel at the lowest fares during their educational exchange. Through this partnership, Erasmus students are offered a dedicated ESN booking platform on the Ryanair.com website, where they can avail of 10% flight discounts on four one-way flights (or 2 round-trips) and a free 20kg checked-in bag with every flight booked.

Since 2017, ESN students have benefited from this exclusive partnership which has seen over 700,000 bookings to date. Ryanair is Europe’s most environmentally efficient major airline, has a leading network of 230+ destinations and a record order of 300 environmentally efficient Boeing MAX-10 aircraft.

Ryanair is committed to continuing to support the recovery of Erasmus student mobility across Europe. ESN students can now book their low fare Ryanair flights with these exclusive travel discounts through the dedicated platform at www.ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Head of Public Affairs, Matthew Krasa, said:

“Ryanair is pleased to announce our exclusive partnership with ESN for the 7^th year running, promoting student mobility by offering third level students across Europe a range of exclusive flight offers, including generous discounts and free-of-charge baggage. As Ryanair continues to grow and invest in Europe, we are delighted to support the EU flagship Erasmus programme and the incredible opportunities offered to their student members.”

ESN President, Rita Dias, and ESN Treasurer, Ayberk Yavuz, said:

“The continuation of the partnership between Ryanair and ESN constitutes a significant stepping stone in advancing ESN’s commitment to making mobility more inclusive and affordable for students across Europe. Lack of financial means and uncertainty about additional costs have been reported as one of the largest obstacles to participation in learning mobility, frequently impacting the overall quality and experience of students’ experience. 

ESN recognises the value of the partnership with Ryanair in addressing one of the main barriers faced by students. Numerous students have encountered difficulties when deciding to undertake a foreign exchange programme due to a combination of geographic factors and financial constraints. Our partnership with Ryanair provides a means to ease these burdens, namely through free luggage schemes and discounted plane tickets. This can improve students’ exchange experiences, and in addition, make a positive impact on the local economies of the host communities. 

Participating in the Erasmus programme is a key factor for the personal and professional growth of young people. Ensuring that this opportunity is accessible to a wide range of students is essential for the future of Europe. We thank Ryanair for their ongoing commitment to the Erasmus Student Network and for facilitating these opportunities.”

Ryanair Holdings today (6 Nov.) reported a strong half-year profit of €2.18bn, compared to a prior year H1 PAT of €1.37bn, thanks to a strong Easter in Q1, record summer traffic and higher fares which offset significantly higher fuel costs in the half year.

H1 highlights:

• Traffic grew 11% to 105.4m (95% load factor). 
• Rev. per pax +17% (ave. fares +24% & ancil. rev. +3%).
• 3 new bases & 194 new routes in S.23.
• 124x B737 “Gamechangers”.  Total fleet of 563 aircraft at 30 Sep.
• Fuel bill rose €0.6bn (+29%) to €2.8bn.
• Fuel hedging extended – c.85% FY24 at $89bbl & over 50% FY25 at $79bbl.
• Net cash of €0.84bn (31 Mar. €0.56bn), over €1bn debt repaid.
• 300x Boeing MAX-10 order underpins growth decade to 300m pax p.a. by FY34.
• €400m maiden div. & div. policy announced.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, said:

ENVIRONMENT:

“Ryanair is one of the most environmentally efficient major EU airlines.  With a young fleet and high load factors, our CO2 per pax/km is just 65 grams.  We invest heavily in new, more efficient, technology. In H1 we took delivery of 26, new, B737-8200 “Gamechangers” (4% more seats, 16% less fuel & CO2).  We’re accelerating the retro-fit of scimitar winglets to almost 130 B737NGs (target 409 by 2026), reducing fuel burn by 1.5% and lowering noise emissions by a further 6%.  We are working with fuel partners to accelerate SAF supply and are on track to achieve the Group’s ambitious 2030 goal of powering 12.5% of Ryanair flights with SAF (9.5% already secured).     

The urgent reform of Europe’s inefficient ATC system is one of the most significant environmental initiatives  the EU can deliver.  In 2023, French ATC has (so far) inflicted over 60 days of strikes on our sector, during which the French Govt. use minimum service laws to protect local/domestic flights while disproportionately cancelling overflights.  In Sep., we delivered a petition (signed by 1.5m customers) calling on the EC to protect the single market for air travel by protecting overflights (while respecting ATC Unions right to strike), as is already the case in Greece, Italy and Spain. Sadly, we have yet to see any action from President Ursula von der Leyen on this key environmental initiative.

Our recent order for 300 Boeing MAX-10 aircraft (21% more seats, 20% less fuel & CO2 and 50% quieter), enabled us to reset the Group’s environmental targets as we strive to more sustainably grow traffic to 300m p.a. by FY34. In H1, we set a very ambitious target of 50 grams of CO2 per pax/km by FY31 (previously 60 grams by FY30) and published Ryanair’s 1.5 degree Climate Transition Plan.

SOCIAL:

We expect to create over 10,000 new, well-paid, jobs for highly trained aviation professionals as the Group expands our fleet to 800 aircraft by FY34.  Building on the success of our aviation training facilities in Dublin, Stansted, Bergamo and East Midlands, we’re opening 2 new excellence centres in Krakow and Madrid to accelerate local crew training and development in those major markets.  Our recently announced engineering academy will support 1,000 apprentices annually as we train the next generation of highly skilled mechanics and engineers.  Ryanair Labs is also growing at its dev. hubs in Dublin, Madrid, Portugal and Wroclaw to support Ryanair’s customer service, our efficiency and scalability over the coming decade.

Ryanair’s investment in resilience ahead of our S.23 schedule (increased crew ratios, doubling the capacity of our Dublin and Warsaw ops centres, enhanced day-of-travel app. and continuously improving live customer comms.) ensured that our passengers and crews could enjoy Ryanair’s industry leading OTP and reliability, despite significant ATC disruptions this year. This is reflected in our strong H1 CSAT score of 84%, notwithstanding over 60 days of French ATC strikes.

GROWTH & FLEET:

During S.23 we operated our largest ever schedule, including 3 new bases and over 190 new routes. We delivered record traffic across peak summer months.  This winter we’ll operate 6 new bases (Athens, Belfast, Copenhagen, Girona, Lanzarote & Tenerife), and over 60 new routes including our first 17 routes to Albania.  To date over 90% of S.24 capacity is already on sale, including over 180 new routes.

While Boeing are currently suffering delivery delays with Spirit (their fuselage supplier), we are working with them to minimise delays ahead of peak S.24.  At this stage, we are concerned that up to 10 of our 57 contracted Gamechanger deliveries pre S.24 may be delayed until winter 2024.

We expect European airlines will continue to consolidate over the next 2-3 years, with the takeover of ITA (Italy) and the sale of TAP (Portugal) and SAS (Scandinavia) already underway.  While Pratt & Whitney engine (GTF) issues and inspection programme threaten to substantially curtail competitor and lessor capacity between 2024 and 2026, the large backlog of OEM aircraft deliveries is also likely to constrain capacity in Europe for the next 3 or 4 years.  These capacity constraints, combined with our widening cost advantage, our judicious fuel hedging, strong balance sheet, low-cost aircraft orders and industry leading operational resilience, creates significant traffic and profit growth opportunities for Ryanair as we expand to carry 300m pax p.a. by FY34.    

H1 FY24 BUSINESS REVIEW:

Revenue & Costs

H1 scheduled revenues increased 37% to €6.1bn.  Traffic grew 11% to 105.4m while ave. fares rose 24% to c.€58 due to a strong Easter and record S.23 demand.  Ancillary revenue increased 14% to €2.5bn (c.€23.70 per passenger).  Total H1 FY24 revenue therefore rose 30% to €8.6bn.  Total operating costs increased 24% to €6.2bn, primarily due to much higher fuel costs (+29% to €2.8bn), higher staff costs (reflecting pay restoration, pre-agreed pay increases and higher crewing ratios as we invested in ops. resilience) and higher ATC fees (incl. airport & handling charges).   Ryanair’s cost advantage over most of its EU competitors continues to widen, with H1 ex-fuel unit costs finishing just under €32.

Our FY24 fuel requirements are almost 85% hedged at approx. $89bbl (a mix of forwards and caps) while our FY25 hedging has increased to just over 50% at approx. $79bbl.  This will deliver savings of approx. €300m on the fuel already hedged for FY25. Over 90% of FY24 €/$ opex is hedged at 1.08 and almost 50% of FY25 is hedged at 1.12.  This strong hedge position leaves us very well protected from recent short term fuel price volatility which many competitors are more, or fully, exposed to.

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Ryanair’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the industry with a BBB+ credit rating (both S&P and Fitch) and over €3.6bn gross cash at period end, despite €1.6bn capex and over €1bn debt repayments (incl. a maturing €750m bond & €260m prepayment of our RCF in Aug.).  Net cash was €0.84bn at 30 Sep. (€0.56bn at 31 Mar.).  All of the Group’s owned B737 fleet (534 aircraft) are unencumbered, which significantly widens our cost advantage over competitor airlines who are heavily exposed to rising interest rates and rising aircraft lease costs. 

CAPITAL ALLOCATION POLICY:

Our Board’s strategy, as our business recovered from Covid, was to firstly prioritise pay restoration and multi-year pay increases for our people, something that has now been delivered over recent quarters.  Secondly, we are determined to pay down our remaining debt as it matures between now and 2026.  Closely aligned to this is the Group’s policy to prioritise growth opportunities to drive shareholder value.  This is achieved by maintaining a strong balance sheet and investment grade rating; investing in growth (the Gamechanger and MAX-10 orderbooks will deliver annual traffic of 300m by FY34) from internally generated cashflows; and shareholder returns.  Ryanair has an established track record of delivering industry leading returns to shareholders.  Between FY08 and FY20 we returned €6.74bn to shareholders via share buybacks and special dividends.

DIVIDEND POLICY:

Ryanair’s shareholders invested €400m in a share placing during the peak of the Covid crisis in Sep. 2020, which was key to Ryanair subsequently issuing a timely, low cost, €850m bond, which helped the Group emerge from the Covid pandemic in a position of unrivalled strategic and financial strength.  The Board is therefore pleased to declare a maiden ordinary dividend of €400m (c.€0.35 per share) in aggregate through an interim and final dividend of €200m each, payable in Feb. 2024 and after the AGM in Sep. 2024 respectively.

For subsequent financial years (i.e. for FY25 onwards), under the Group’s new dividend policy, Ryanair plans to return approx. 25% of prior-year PAT (adjusted for non-recurring gains or losses) by way of ordinary dividend to our shareholders.  Additionally, the Board, taking into account prevailing market conditions and ensuring that the Group retains a prudent level of cash to fund debt and capex requirements will retain the flexibility to consider, when or if appropriate, the return of surplus cash to shareholders through special dividends and/or share buybacks.

OUTLOOK:

We continue to target approx. 183.5m (+9%) FY24 traffic, although the final figure depends on Boeing meeting their delivery commitments between now and year-end.  As previously guided, we expect ex-fuel unit costs to increase by c.€2 this year, which still widens the cost gap between Ryanair and competitor airlines in Europe.  Forward bookings (both traffic and fares) are robust over the late Oct. mid-terms and into the peak Christmas travel period. With the benefit of constrained EU capacity this winter (Eurocontrol expect EU capacity to recover to only 94% of pre-Covid) and the impact of P&W engine repairs on competitor fleets, we currently expect Q3 ave. fares to be ahead of the prior year Q3 by a mid teens percentage.  Unhedged fuel costs, however, are significantly higher making it unlikely that we’ll replicate last year’s bumper Q3 performance.  As is normal at this time of year, we have very limited Q4 visibility.  Q4 is traditionally our weakest quarter and, this year, will be impacted by the partial unwind of free ETS carbon credits (from Jan. 2024). 

Despite uncertainty over Boeing deliveries, a significantly higher full year fuel bill (up c.€1.3bn on last year), very limited Q4 visibility and the risk of weaker consumer spending over coming months, we now expect that FY24 PAT will finish in a range of between €1.85bn to €2.05bn, assuming modest losses over the H2 winter period.  This guidance remains highly dependent on the absence of any unforeseen adverse events (for example such as Ukraine or Gaza) between now and the end of Mar. 2024.”

Notes

1 Non-IFRS financial measure, excl. €107m except. unrealised mark-to-market loss (timing unwind) on jet fuel caps.

Ryanair, la compagnia aerea n. 1 in Italia e in Europa, chiede (2 novembre) al Governo italiano di eliminare il disegno di legge che consentirebbe ai comuni italiani di aumentare l’addizionale comunale negli aeroporti quasi del 50% (€ 3 per passeggero in partenza) dal 2024.

Mentre il Governo italiano sta valutando proposte per incrementare la connettività nazionale e abbassare le tariffe, questo progetto di legge si tradurrebbe contraddittoriamente in tariffe più alte, minore connettività e meno scelta sia per i cittadini italiani che per i turisti che viaggiano da/per l’Italia.

Aumentare le tasse turistiche costa in termini di posti di lavoro e connettività. Ad esempio, la recente decisione del Comune di Venezia di aumentare l’addizionale comunale di € 2,50 per passeggero in partenza, ha portato Ryanair a rimuovere un aereo basato (investimento di 100 milioni di dollari) cancellando/riducendo le frequenze su 12 rotte presso l’aeroporto Marco Polo di Venezia, spostando questa preziosa crescita verso economie turistiche concorrenti come Spagna e Portogallo, che non hanno tasse turistiche penalizzanti.

Il Governo italiano dovrebbe invece concentrarsi sulla riduzione dei costi di accesso, eliminando l’addizionale comunale: ciò darebbe un impulso al settore del turismo in Italia e fornirebbe un incremento in termini di posti di lavoro e PIL, in particolare in quei comuni che ne hanno più bisogno. Ryanair è nella posizione migliore per fornire la capacità, il traffico e gli investimenti necessari per rilanciare la connettività e l’industria del turismo in Italia, e all’inizio di quest’anno la compagnia ha condiviso con il Governo italiano proposte per fornire 5 milioni di posti extra su Sardegna e Sicilia nei prossimi 5 anni, se l’addizionale comunale, che si applica sia ai cittadini italiani che ai turisti in viaggio da/per le Isole, verrà abolita.

Il CEO di Ryanair DAC, Eddie Wilson, ha dichiarato:

“Questa proposta di consentire un ulteriore aumento dell’addizionale comunale (tassa sul turismo) quasi del 50% avrà conseguenze negative a lungo termine per la connettività e l’industria del turismo in Italia – motivo per cui è stata categoricamente respinta sia dagli aeroporti, sia dalle compagnie aeree.

Gli aumenti delle tasse da parte dei comuni hanno già portato Ryanair a rimuovere un aereo basato (investimento di 100 milioni di dollari) e a cancellare/ridurre le frequenze su 12 rotte da/per l’aeroporto Marco Polo di Venezia. Se questa misura regressiva verrà messa in atto, saremo costretti a rivedere la nostra capacità sull’Italia per la prossima estate. Purtroppo, i cittadini saranno i soggetti più colpiti, poiché una capacità ridotta significherà inevitabilmente tariffe più alte e meno scelta.

Tasse e costi di accesso ancora più elevati per i visitatori e i cittadini italiani che lavorano duro, danneggiano inevitabilmente il turismo locale, i posti di lavoro e la connettività; il Governo Italiano e le amministrazioni locali dovrebbero lavorare insieme per eliminare l’attuale addizionale comunale: ciò stimolerà la crescita del turismo, dell’industria e, in ultima analisi, fornirà ulteriori investimenti, posti di lavoro e connettività per l’Italia, e in particolare per i comuni che ne hanno più bisogno. I cittadini/visitatori italiani meritano più connettività, scelta e tariffe basse, che Ryanair offrirà a fronte di costi di accesso competitivi”.