Ryanair has expressed disappointment with its recent business performance, leading to discontent among investors. The Irish budget airline’s stock has plummeted 17% following a quarterly earnings report that fell short of expectations. While revenue remained steady at €3.6 billion ($4 billion), profits dropped significantly to €336 million. CEO Michael O’Leary noted that although more passengers are flying with Ryanair, attracting them is requiring more effort.
During an earnings call, O’Leary stated, “Traffic growth is strong, up 10% to 55 million passengers, but it’s only strong at a price.” He highlighted the need to stimulate fares and bookings repeatedly and pointed out that last-minute bookings were disappointing, especially leading into the peak travel months of July, August, and September.
In addition to lower demand, Ryanair is grappling with higher labor costs and has criticized Boeing over ongoing delivery delays, a long-standing issue for O’Leary. Despite previously standing by the manufacturer after an incident with a 737 Max 9 mid-flight, he has consistently urged Boeing to improve its operations.
O’Leary acknowledged that customers seem to be feeling more economic pressure compared to earlier in the COVID-19 recovery phase. Reports suggest that inflation and slow economic growth in the European Union are starting to impact consumers. He mentioned that operating fewer aircraft could potentially benefit Ryanair in this context.
“We will have less capacity in summer 2025 than originally planned with our Boeing deliveries, and we’re facing two years of essentially no growth in capacity,” O’Leary said. “If consumers are under pressure for the next year or 18 months, that might not be the worst situation for us.”