Ryanair, today (25 May), repaid its last €1.2 billion bond leaving the Ryanair Group effectively debt free as it faces into a challenging summer of growth, at low fares.  This is the first time since Ryanair floated in 1997 that the airline has repaid all the debt, leaving it with an unencumbered fleet of 620 B737 aircraft.

Ryanair Group CFO, Neil Sorahan, said:

“Today is a historic day for Ryanair as our Group, following repayment of our final €1.2bn bond, is now effectively debt free.  Our fortress balance sheet is underpinned by an unencumbered B737 fleet of 620 aircraft, solid ratings (BBB+) from both Fitch Ratings and S&P and strong liquidity.  This financial strength further widens the cost gap between Ryanair and our competitors, many of whom are exposed to expensive (long-term) debt and aircraft leases and will enable Ryanair to continue to grow traffic at much lower fares than our competitors, bringing even more value to consumers all over Europe.

We raised this last remaining €1.2bn bond during the Covid crisis and we wish to sincerely thank our bond holders for their strong support over many years.  We look forward to (opportunistically) revisiting the bond markets at some stage in the future as we grow passenger traffic to 300m p.a. by FY34 and take up to 50 Boeing MAX-10 deliveries annually from 2029 onward.”