The demand for air travel in the summer is very good, ticket prices should at least remain stable, perhaps even increase slightly compared to the previous year, explained CFO Neil Sorahan on Monday when presenting the balance sheet at the company’s headquarters in Dublin. In the fiscal year that ended in March, net profit jumped 34 percent to 1.92 billion euros, slightly better than analysts had expected. The Irish low-cost airline counted 184 million passengers, 23 percent more than before the corona pandemic.

The airline is worried about the pressure on ticket prices. If Ryanair had to cut prices to fill its capacity by up to 94 percent in April, May and June, then it would do so. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary had already said last week that ticket prices would not rise as much as expected in the summer, sending shares plummeting. Ryanair has now announced a 700 million euro share buyback.

Ryanair expects an increase to 198 to 200 million passengers in the current financial year. Due to delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing, the company had already reduced its previous forecast of 205 million passengers. Boeing will be able to deliver less than ordered by the end of July, Ryanair said. You will receive “moderate compensation” for this.

Ryanair also warned that the delivery of Boeing aircraft could be further delayed. By the end of July, the board hopes to have a fleet of a total of 158 medium-haul jets from the 737 Max series. That would be 23 copies less than agreed. In recent months, Ryanair has had to cancel flights due to delivery delays.

The company announced on Monday that the first financial quarter until the end of June required more discounts than in the previous year because the Easter holidays, which were busy with travel, partly fell in March. However, the board is cautiously optimistic that it will be able to offer prices at least at the previous year’s level during the peak summer travel season – but it may also be possible to push through slightly higher prices, the Irish emphasized. The profit forecast for the year as a whole depends heavily on how much Ryanair can charge its passengers between July and September. Management did not dare to give a precise profit forecast.

min/kle (dpa, rtr)

*The article “Ryanair starts the summer after good results” is published by Deutsche Welle. Contact the person responsible here.