Ryanair has expressed dissatisfaction with its recent business performance, a sentiment echoed by its investors, as the airline’s stock has plummeted by 17% following a disappointing quarterly earnings report. The Irish budget airline reported revenues of €3.6 billion ($4 billion), which is essentially unchanged from the previous year, but profits fell sharply to €336 million.
CEO Michael O’Leary noted that while passenger traffic increased by 10% to 55 million, this growth is coming at a cost. “We’re having to work very hard to attract people to fly with us,” he stated during the company’s earnings call. He mentioned difficulties in stimulating fares and bookings, with recent performance and close-in bookings proving to be more disappointing than anticipated, particularly as the peak months of July, August, and September approach.
Additionally, Ryanair is grappling with rising labor costs and has partially attributed its challenges to delays in aircraft deliveries from Boeing, a longstanding issue for O’Leary. Despite having supported the manufacturer after a mid-flight incident involving a 737 Max 9 earlier this year, O’Leary has long urged Boeing to expedite its operations.
O’Leary also indicated that Ryanair’s customers are facing increased economic pressures, reflecting broader trends in the European Union impacted by years of inflation and sluggish economic growth. He noted that the airline plans to reduce its capacity heading into summer 2025, with expectations of no capacity growth for the following two years. “If the consumer is going to be under pressure for the next year or 18 months, that might not be the worst place to be,” he concluded.