Ryanair is expressing disappointment with its recent business performance, leading to dissatisfaction among its investors. The Irish budget airline’s stock has declined by 17% following a quarterly earnings report that fell short of expectations. The company reported revenues of €3.6 billion ($4 billion), which mirrored last year’s figures. However, profits plummeted nearly 50% to €336 million. CEO Michael O’Leary noted that while passenger traffic increased by 10% to 55 million, achieving this growth required significant effort on the company’s part, involving frequent fare and booking incentives.
O’Leary highlighted challenges with weaker-than-anticipated close-in bookings as the company heads into its peak travel months of July, August, and September. Increasing labor costs and ongoing Boeing delivery delays have compounded the airline’s struggles. Although O’Leary has continued to support Boeing following recent issues with a 737 Max 9 mid-flight incident, he has urged the aircraft manufacturer to improve its performance.
O’Leary also observed that consumers seem to be facing more economic pressure as inflation and sluggish growth in the European Union take their toll. He indicated that Ryanair might benefit from operating fewer aircraft in the coming years. “We will have less capacity into summer 2025 than we are originally scheduled to have with our Boeing delivery, and then we’re into two years of essentially no capacity growth at all,” he explained. He added that given the anticipated consumer pressures over the next 12 to 18 months, this situation might ultimately favor the airline.