Ryanair Holdings plc today (Mon, 4 Oct) released September traffic statistics as follows:
| RYR GROUP | SEP 2020 | SEP 2021 |
| TRAFFIC | 5.2m | 10.6m |
| L. FACTOR | 71% | 81% |
| GUESTS | LOAD FACTOR | |
| July | 9.3m | 80% |
| August | 11.1m | 82% |
| September | 10.6m | 81% |
Ryanair operated over 69,500 flights in September with an 81% load factor.
New Aircraft, New Bases & Lower Costs, Sees 5 Year Traffic Growth Jump 50% From 150m To 225m Guests P.A.
Ryanair Holdings plc, today (Thurs, 16th Sept) holds its AGM at its Airside Offices in Dublin.
Based on proxy votes already received, Shareholders have approved all resolutions and will receive a detailed update on the Airline Group’s post-Covid recovery plans over the next 5 years. Subject to no adverse Covid developments, and vaccinations remaining at 90%+ across Europe, Ryanair will take delivery of 210 B737 Gamechanger aircraft over the next 5 years. These aircraft will deliver industry lowest costs, reduced emissions, and will enable Ryanair accelerate its post-Covid growth, as opportunities open up at primary and secondary airports all over Europe, particularly where legacy carriers have failed or reduced fleet sizes as a result of Covid and State Aid.
Ryanair Group airlines now expect to deliver more rapid traffic growth over the next 5 years, and have raised their 5 year growth forecast from 33% to 50%. As a result, Ryanair’s pre-Covid traffic of 149m is expected to grow to over 225m guests by March 2026, which is 25m passengers p.a. higher than the previous target of 200m.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:
“The performance of the B737 Gamechanger aircraft this summer has exceeded our expectations. Operational reliability, fuel consumption, and lower CO2 emissions have so far exceeded guidelines with very positive passenger and crew feedback to these new, more fuel efficient, quieter aircraft.
With these new deliveries, Ryanair will open 10 new bases across Europe this year as we work with airport partners to help them recover traffic & jobs post Covid, and take up slot opportunities that are being vacated by competitor airlines who have collapsed or significantly reduced their fleet sizes.
Ryanair expects to create over 5,000 new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers over the next 5 years, and the Group is excited to have, earlier this week, opened a €50m Aviation Training Centre in Dublin, with 2 further high quality training centres planned for Spain and Poland over the next 5 years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered an unprecedented blow to Europe’s aviation and tourism industries. Only Ryanair has used this crisis to place significantly increased aircraft orders, to expand our airport partnerships, and to secure lower operating costs so that we can pass on even lower fares to our guests, so that together with our airport partners, we can recover strongly from the Covid pandemic and deliver higher than expected growth in both traffic and jobs over the next 5 years.”
5,000 New Pilot And Cabin Crew Jobs To Be Created, Over Next 5 Years As Ryanair Returns To Growth
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Tues, 14th Sept) announced a new agreement with Airline Flight Academy (AFA) at the opening of a brand new €50m Aviation Training Centre in Santry, close to Dublin Airport. This new Training and Simulator Centre contains 3 full motion simulators, 1x 737 MAX and 2x Airbus A320, together with 2 fixed base simulators (1x Boeing 737 and 1x Airbus A320). Additionally, this new AFA Centre contains a state of the art cabin crew training and emergency evacuation device, as well as a specialist cabin fire training centre. The AFA Centre contains over 15 large classroom training centres and 5 individual pilot briefing/de-briefing rooms. Access to these new facilities will enable Ryanair to recruit and train over 5,000 new pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground operations professionals over the next 5 years – jobs which will be necessary for crew to operate Ryanair’s 210 new Boeing 737 Gamechanger aircraft, which will enable Ryanair to grow annual traffic to 200m p.a. by 2026.
Ryanair has chosen Airline Flight Academy to be its exclusive cadet training partner. Under this agreement, Airline Flight Academy will operate and run this new €50m Training Centre, and will play a central role in recruiting the next generation of aviation professionals, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground operations professionals for Ryanair’s next phase of post Covid growth and expansion.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said:
“After what has been an incredibly difficult 18months, today’s announcement is a real vote of confidence in the airline industry as it rebuilds after the pandemic. This €50m investment in a new training centre and the creation of 5,000 jobs across Europe, will mean fantastic opportunities for pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground ops professionals over the next 5 years. It’s incredible growth and makes me really optimistic for the future. Congratulations to the team involved.”
Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:
“We are honoured to welcome Tánaiste Leo Varadkar to the opening of the Airline Flight Academy Training Centre here in Santry. We have invested over €50m in this state-of-the-art Training Centre, and our agreement with AFA will deliver over 5,000 highly trained pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground operations professionals over the next 5 years. Ryanair will create over 5,000 new jobs thanks to the expansion of our Boeing 737 fleet, with 210 MAX Gamechangers to be delivered over the next 5 years which will enable Ryanair to grow to carry 200m passengers p.a. by 2026.
The AFA team have been a recruitment and training partner of Ryanair for many years, and we look forward to continuing to invest in this agreement, which has to date, enabled Ryanair to recruit and train over 18,000 highly qualified aviation professionals.”
IAA Aviation Regulator / CEO Designate, Diarmuid Ó Conghaile said:
“We welcome the expansion of Ryanair’s training operations. It is another positive sign for the future of aviation in Ireland and the support services required. The investment in a training and simulation centre will create jobs for highly skilled workers, which will benefit the broader Irish aviation sector as it re-bounds from the crisis of the past 18 months.”
Director AFA, Francis Farrell said:
“Airline Flight Academy are honoured to have been selected as Ryanair’s exclusive cadet training partner here in Ireland. We are excited to be chosen to operate and run this new €50m Aviation Training Centre in Santry, and have committed to delivering Ryanair over 5,000 highly trained pilots, cabin crew, engineers, and ground ops professionals using these state of the art facilities in Santry. Ireland has always been a centre for high quality aviation professionals and AFA’s agreement with Ryanair will create 5,000 new jobs, both here in Ireland and across Europe as Ryanair continues to recover and grow post Covid.”
L.F. Rises To 82% As EU Covid Certs Stimulate Recovery
Ryanair Holdings plc today (Thurs, 2 Sept) released August traffic statistics as follows:
| RYR GROUP | AUG 2020 | AUG 2021 |
| TRAFFIC | 7.0m | 11.1m |
| L. FACTOR | 73% | 82% |
| GUESTS | LOAD FACTOR | |
| July | 9.3m | 80% |
| August | 11.1m | 82% |
Ryanair operated over 71,000 flights in August with an 82% load factor.
Load Factor Rises To 80% As Eu Covid Certs Roll Out
Ryanair Holdings plc today (4 August) released July traffic statistics as follows:
| JULY 2020 | JULY 2021 | LOAD FACTOR | |
| Ryanair Group | 4.4m | 9.3m | 80% |
| GUESTS | LOAD FACTOR | |
| June | 5.3m | 72% |
| July | 9.3m | 80% |
Ryanair operated over 61,000 flights in July with an 80% load factor.
Customers Can Now Fully Offset Their Co2 Emissions
Ryanair, Europe’s greenest major airline, has today (28 July) announced the launch of its carbon calculator, a new digital tool that will enable consumers to fully offset their emissions on their Ryanair flight. This new feature will calculate the carbon emissions per passenger on every Ryanair route and will allow customers to pay the full carbon cost of their flight contributing to environmental initiatives.
With this development, Ryanair is delighted to expand its carbon offset programme which currently allows customers to contribute €2 towards carbon offset projects. These contributions support several environmental initiatives, including Renature Monchique – a reforestation project in the Algarve; the distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves in Uganda by First Climate; Balikesir’s Wind Power Plant Project in Turkey and Improved Kitchen Regimes in Malawi powered by CO2 Balance (the latter two in partnership with Shell).
Since Ryanair’s voluntary carbon offset scheme commenced, customers have contributed over €3.5m to environmental projects and Ryanair believes the expansion of its carbon offset programme will be greatly welcomed by its customers throughout Europe. Ryanair already has the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger/km of any major airline in Europe (66g) and by switching to Ryanair, passengers can now further reduce their CO2 emissions.
Although Ryanair’s CO2 emissions per passenger/km are already the lowest of any major EU airline, it believes that aviation must play a leading role in addressing climate change, and is placing an increased emphasis on mitigating how its business impacts the environment. By 2030, Ryanair’s goal is to power 12.5% of its flights with sustainable aviation fuels – this together with the $22bn investment in new Boeing 737 8-200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft will significantly reduce its CO2 and noise emissions over the next decade and help Ryanair achieve its aim of being a carbon neutral airline by 2050.
Director of Sustainability at Ryanair, Thomas Fowler said:
“Hundreds of thousands of Ryanair customers every year are already choosing to contribute and support the environment by selecting carbon contribution at their time of booking. The expansion of our Carbon Offset Scheme to enable our customers to fully offset the CO2 of their Ryanair flight will greatly enhance the capabilities of each of our environmental partners who are actively working on carbon offsetting programs.
Sustainability and environmental impact are considered in every business decision made in Ryanair and we are truly dedicated to being a net carbon neutral airline by 2050. Ryanair has the youngest fleet age of any major airline and this will further reduce now that we have taken delivery of our first Boeing 737-8200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft – which are more fuel efficient [burning 16% less fuel per seat]; will lower noise emissions by 40% and have 8 more seats per aircraft. Ryanair has set a goal to power 12.5% of all flights with sustainable aviation fuels by 2030, having recently announced a partnership with Trinity College Dublin to engage in best-in-class research on this. We only operate point-to-point routes, have industry leading load factors and are delighted to have already removed over 80% of non-recyclable plastics from our flights.
Ryanair is committed to being a net carbon neutral airline by 2050 and the expansion of our offset scheme will further pave our way to achieving this goal while helping our environmental partners further their carbon reduction programs.”
Ryanair Holdings plc today (26 July) reported a Q1 loss of €273m, compared to a PY Q1 loss of €185m. Features of this Q1 performance included:
| Q1 – Group | 30 Jun. 2020 | 30 Jun. 2021 | Change |
| Customers | 0.5m | 8.1m | +7.6m |
| Load Factor | 61% | 73% | +12pts |
| Revenue | €125m | €371m | +196% |
| Op. Costs | €313m | €675m | +116% |
| Net Loss | (€185m) | (€273m) | -47% |
Ryanair Holdings Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:
“COVID-19:
Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc on our business during Q1 with most Easter flights cancelled and a slower than expected easing of EU Govt. travel restrictions into May and June. Significant uncertainty around travel green lists (particularly in the UK) and extreme Govt. caution in Ireland meant that Q1 bookings were close-in and at low fares. We kept aircraft and crews current throughout the quarter and recruited additional cabin crew to enable us recover quickly in Q2 as Covid restrictions ease. The 1st July rollout of EU Digital Covid Certificates (“DCC”) and the scrapping of quarantine for vaccinated arrivals to the UK from mid-July has seen a surge in bookings over recent weeks. Pricing remains below pre Covid-19 levels and there will continue to be great value for Ryanair guests travelling this summer as we focus on recovering traffic, jobs and tourism across our European network. Based on current (close-in) bookings, we expect traffic to rise from over 5m in June to almost 9m in July, and over 10m in Aug., as long as there are no further Covid setbacks in Europe. We will continue our load active/yield passive strategy as we recover load factors over the course of FY22.
The Covid-19 crisis has triggered the collapse of many European airlines including Flybe, Norwegian, Germanwings, Level and Stobart and led to substantial capacity cuts at many others including Alitalia, TAP, LOT, SAS, etc. The tsunami of State Aid from EU Govts. to their insolvent flag carriers (Alitalia, AirFrance/KLM, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, TAP and others) will distort EU competition and prop up high cost, inefficient, flag carriers for many years. We expect intra-European capacity to be materially lower for the foreseeable future. This will create growth opportunities for Ryanair to extend airport incentives, as the Group takes delivery of 210 new Boeing 737 “Gamechanger” aircraft. We are encouraged by the high rate of vaccinations across Europe. If, as is presently predicted, most of Europe’s adult population is fully vaccinated by Sept., then we believe that we can look forward to a strong recovery in air travel for the second half of the fiscal year and well into S.22 – as is presently the case in domestic US air travel.
THE ENVIRONMENT & CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Ryanair has repeatedly shown we can grow traffic while reducing our impact on the environment. Every passenger that switches to Ryanair from Europe’s legacy airlines reduces their CO₂ emissions by almost 50% per flight. Over the next 5-years our traffic will grow to 200m p.a. This will be achieved on a fleet that balances the demand for low fares with the need for sustainable flying. Our new B737-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft (a $22bn+ investment) offers 4% more seats, but delivers 16% lower fuel burn and 40% lower noise emissions, helps to meaningfully lower Ryanair’s CO₂ and noise footprint over the next decade.
We continue to work actively with the EU, fuel suppliers and aircraft manufacturers to incentivise sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use. We are working with A4E and the EU Commission to accelerate reform to the Single European Sky, to minimise ATC delays and lower fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. Last year Ryanair received an industry leading “B-” climate protection rating from CDP[1], and we are working to improve this to an “A” rating over the next 2 years. In April, Ryanair established a Sustainable Aviation Research Centre partnership with Trinity College Dublin to accelerate the development of SAFs. Ryanair’s goal is to power 12.5% of our flights with SAF by 2030 (well ahead of the 5% recently mandated by the EU Fit for 55 Proposals). Earlier this month we launched a new carbon calculator enabling customers to (voluntarily) offset their carbon footprint on every Ryanair flight that they book. These initiatives will help Ryanair achieve our target of lowering CO₂ per passenger/km by 10% to just 60 grams by 2030.
In July, Ryanair announced a 7 member Customer Advisory Panel. Following over 10,000 applications from across 16 countries, the final panel represents a diverse cross-section of Ryanair customers (with members from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK). We will welcome this Panel to Dublin in Sept. for our first Customer Advisory meeting, with future meetings to take place in other major European cities. The advice and input from the Panel will help shape Ryanair’s continuing customer improvements programme, re-enforcing our commitment to delivering the lowest fares, on-time flights and a great customer experience as the Group returns to strong post Covid growth.
Q1 FY22 BUSINESS REVIEW:
Revenue & Costs
Q1 scheduled revenue increased 91% to €192m due to a rise in traffic from 0.5m to 8.1m (at a 73% load factor). While traffic recovered significantly (compared to PY Q1), the cancellation of Easter traffic and the delayed relaxation of Govt. travel restrictions across the EU into May and June required significant price stimulation. Ancillary revenue performed well, generating approx. €22 per passenger, as more guests choose priority boarding and reserved seating. As a result, total revenue increased by almost 200% to over €370m in Q1. A sevenfold increase in sectors saw operating costs increase 116% to €675m, driven primarily by variable costs such as fuel, airport & handling and route charges. The Group’s fuel requirements are just under 60% hedged for FY22 at $565 per metric tonne and approx. 35% hedged for FY23 at $600. Carbon credits are fully hedged for FY22 and approx. 35% hedged for FY23 at under €24 per EUA (compared to forward rates of over €50).
During Q1 our Route Development team continued their work with airport partners across Europe, and have negotiated lower airport costs, recovery incentives and the extension of many low cost airport growth deals. In addition to previously announced deals (with Billund, Riga, Stockholm, Zadar & Zagreb) and long term extensions of low-cost growth deals in London Stansted (to 2028), Milan Bergamo (to 2028) and Brussels Charleroi (to 2030), the Group has doubled its capacity in Rome (Fiumicino), added new routes to Helsinki and will launch new bases in Turin (Italy) and Agadir (Morocco) this winter.
In June Ryanair took delivery of our first 3 B737-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft from our 210 orderbook. The Gamechangers have 4% more seats, 16% lower fuel burn and 40% lower noise emissions and will, we believe, further widen the cost gap between Ryanair and all other European airlines for the next decade. While it is early days (and load factors have not yet recovered to pre Covid levels) we are very pleased with the operational performance and lower fuel burn recorded on these aircraft. The feedback from our guests is resoundingly positive as they enjoy the extra leg room and 40% less noise. We hope to increase our fleet of Gamechangers to over 60 in advance of S.22 and these new aircraft will drive our traffic growth to 200m p.a. by FY26.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Ryanair’s balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry with a BBB credit rating (S&P and Fitch), €4.06bn cash and almost 90% of our B737 fleet unencumbered at quarter end. In May Ryanair issued a €1.2bn 5-year, unsecured, bond at a record low coupon of 0.875%. In June the Group repaid its maturing €850m (2014) 1.875% bond. Strong operating cashflows and supplier reimbursements drove a €0.62bn reduction in net debt to €1.66bn at 30 June (31 March: €2.28bn). This balance sheet strength enables the Group to capitalise on the many growth opportunities that will be available in Europe in the post Covid-19 recovery.
OUTLOOK:
FY22 continues to be challenging, with Covid-19 travel restrictions prolonging uncertainty. Following the 1st July rollout of EU DCC’s (and the relaxation of the UK’s quarantine rules) for fully vaccinated persons, our Group has seen Q2 bookings recover strongly (albeit at low fares). With the booking curve remaining very close-in and fares well below pre Covid-19 levels, visibility for the remainder of FY22 is close to zero. It therefore remains impossible to provide meaningful FY22 guidance at this time. We believe that FY22 traffic has improved to a range of 90m to 100m (previously guided at the lower end of an 80m to 120m passenger range) and (cautiously) expect that the likely outcome for FY22 is somewhere between a small loss and breakeven. This is dependent on the continued rollout of vaccines this summer, and no adverse Covid variant developments.
As we look beyond the Covid-19 recovery, and the successful completion of vaccination rollouts, the Ryanair Group expects to have a materially lower cost base, a very strong balance sheet and industry leading traffic recovery. Our new B737 “Gamechanger” aircraft will reduce fleet costs and unit costs (thanks to its attractive pricing, higher seat density and 16% lower fuel burn) for the next decade. They will enhance revenue opportunities with 4% more seats, enabling the Group to fund lower fares and capitalise on the many growth opportunities that are now available across Europe, especially where competitor airlines have substantially cut capacity or failed. We are seeing a strong rebound of pent up travel demand into Aug. & Sept. and we expect this to continue into the second half of FY22, with pre Covid-19 growth planned to resume strongly in summer 2022.”