Ryanair has announced three new routes and extra flights on a further five routes between the UK and Greece for this summer, all starting on July 1, 2021:

The UK’s roadmap for the re-opening of air travel, coupled with their highly successful vaccination program, gives UK consumers confidence that summer travel will be possible.

Having just announced that tourists* are welcome to Greece from May 14, 2021, UK consumers can now book a sunshine getaway from London Stansted Airport to Santorini, Zakynthos and Preveza.

Ryanair has also added five extra flights every week from Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester, Southend and Stansted to the idyllic holiday destinations of Corfu and Rhodes.

Ryanair aircraft photo gallery:

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Ryanair has launched its biggest ever Italian domestic schedule. Italian consumers have never had more choice when booking staycations or business trips, with 100 routes to choose from (+65% vs. last summer) across 28 Italian airports. This includes a further five new routes announced today (starting from July 1, 2021):

Ryanair will operate up to 1,500 weekly Italian domestic flights this summer. As vaccination programs accelerate, Italy’s domestic traffic is expected to bounce back and Ryanair is delighted to take part in the recovery of the Italian tourism industry across the regions. Ryanair customers can now book their summer flights on the lowest fares and with the option to avail of Ryanair’s ‘zero change fee’ offer should plans change.

Ryanair’s extended Italian domestic schedule will now deliver:

• 100 routes available to book as far out as March 2022
• Over 30 new routes including a further 5 new routes announced today
• Up to 1,500 flights every week
• Connections between 28 airports across Italy

Ryanair Holdings plc, Europe’s largest airline group, is the parent company of Buzz, Lauda, Malta Air and Ryanair. Carrying 149 million guests p.a. (pre Covid-19) on more than 2,100 daily flights from 77 bases, the Group connects over 240 destinations in 40 countries on a fleet of 460 aircraft, with a further 210 Boeing 737s on order.

Ryanair has announced it has joined the ambitious “Fueling Flight Initiative” in its commitment to supporting Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) as an essential element to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the aviation industry.

This ambitious initiative provides recommendations on the sustainability aspects of the EU’s policy design to support SAFs. Together with environmental groups, fellow airlines and research organizations, the group convenes to reach consensus on the necessary policies for the transition towards carbon neutral flying.

Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability, Tom Fowler, said:

“We are delighted to join the ‘Fueling Flight Initiative’. Sustainable Aviation Fuels are a key component of airlines’ efforts on the road to carbon-neutrality. A transparent and future-proof regulatory framework for SAFs can support and equip airlines in their fight against climate change, and we are proud to be part of this initiative.

Ryanair’s environmental record speaks for itself.  Our Environmental Policy includes investment in new and more efficient aircraft, support for research into SAFs, elimination of non-recyclable plastics within 5 years and participation in verified carbon projects powered by Ryanair customer donations. With this new initiative, we take a further step to the achievement of our decarbonization targets and the broader UN Sustainable Development Goals”.

Pete Harrison, the Executive Director of EU Climate Policy of the European Climate Foundation said:

“The ECF is delighted that Ryanair has joined this initiative. Europe must ensure that future policies only promote the most sustainable fuels for reducing the climate impact of aviation, and the EU needs to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. The current Renewable Energy Directive does not ensure that fuels used in Europe meet the sustainability standards desired by civil society nor of leading airlines. In the ‘Fueling Flight Initiative’, aviation companies, research organizations and environmental groups have now reached agreement on this important topic, and we propose shared guidelines on how to minimize environmental impacts. Policymakers should take this into consideration when defining a policy framework that is fair, affordable and meets the highest sustainability standards without compromise.”

Ryanair issued this traffic report for February:

78% load factor as COVID-19 continues to impact traffic

Ryanair Holdings plc today (March 2) released its February traffic statistics as follows:

Ryanair operated approximately 6% of its normal February schedule with a 78% load factor.

Ryanair has noted the EU Court’s rulings on French and Swedish State aid schemes favoring Air France and SAS over all other EU airlines.  The French airport tax deferral and the Swedish loan guarantee were introduced at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis with nationality conditions.  The French scheme was reserved for French registered airlines and the Swedish scheme to Swedish registered airlines, while excluding all other EU airlines, which were also damaged by Covid-19, despite their contribution to connectivity, jobs, traffic growth and the wider economy in France and Sweden.  Ryanair appealed the European Commission’s approvals of these schemes to the EU General Court in May 2020.  Following today’s rulings, Ryanair will now refer these matters to the Court of Justice of the EU.

Ryanair’s spokesperson said:

“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a true single market for air transport, underpinned by the principle of a common EU airline license – one for each airline.  A nationality condition in a State aid scheme is plainly incompatible with the single market. 

Ryanair is a truly European airline.  We have no rich and powerful ‘home country’ to subsidize us in times of trouble.  Nor do we want discriminatory aid.  Our instinct in a crisis is to seek efficiencies and cost savings, to offer more routes at lower fares – while remaining Europe’s greenest airline. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic over €30 billion in discriminatory State subsidies has been gifted to EU flag carriers and, if allowed to stand, this will distort the level playing field in EU aviation for decades to come, giving chronically inefficient national airlines a leg up on their efficient low-fare competitors. 

We hope that the Court of Justice will overturn the European Commission’s approvals of the French and Swedish schemes, to give airlines and consumers a glimmer of hope that national politicians obsessed with their flag carriers will be sent back to the drawing board and required to use State aid wisely to assist the recovery of traffic in the post-COVID world instead of bailing out their favored airline at the expense of fair competition and consumers.  Now is the time for the European Commission to stop caving in to national governments’ inefficient bail-out policies and start protecting the single market, Europe’s greatest asset for future economic recovery.”

Ryanair aircraft photo gallery:

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Ryanair has made these announcements:

Ryanair has launched its Winter 21/22 schedule, covering its most popular destinations for trips taking off from late October. Boasting over 700 routes across the Ryanair network – and further destinations to be released in the coming weeks – winter sun is where it’s at for 2021. Ever popular with its customers, Ryanair has launched routes to the likes of sunny Cyprus, Gran Canaria, the Greek islands, Sicily and Malaga for Winter ’21 and avid skiers who missed out on their trip to the slopes can dust off their skis with popular destinations such as Turin, Milan and Salzburg set to welcome visitors once again next winter.

In addition to winter sun and ski, customer can also book winter city breaks to Lisbon, Paris, Venice and many more. Having missed out on holidays and weekend breaks in 2020, an eclectic mix of destinations is on offer from Ryanair this winter spanning beach holidays, city breaks, cultural and foodie hotspots.

Ryanair operates a fleet of over 470 Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, with orders of up to 210 new Boeing 737 aircraft, this includes 135 new Boeing 737 MAX 200s, and options for 75 more MAX 200s, which will enable Ryanair to grow its fleet to 585 by 2024, further lower its fares and grow traffic from 142 million customers last year to 200 million in 2024.

In other news, Ryanair has called on the European Commission to reject plans for further discriminatory State aid from the French Government to Air France. This chronically inefficient airline already received a blockbuster €7 billion subsidy package in 2020 and should not receive further Government support.

Should yet another enormous and illegal State aid bailout occur, then effective remedies must be applied to ensure fair competition in the French market and to protect the interests of the French consumer / visitor. This must include Air France giving up a substantial number of its take-off and landing slots at key French airports including Paris Charles De Gaulle, Paris Orly and Lyon.

Ryanair is ready to operate some or all of this capacity (if a competitive tender is run for their slots), to provide meaningful competition and choice vs. Air France and to assist French passengers / visitors to access lower fares.

Ryanair Holdings plc released its January traffic statistics as follows:

Ryanair operated approximately 15% of its normal January schedule with a 69% load factor.

Ryanair aircraft photo gallery:

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Ryanair Holdings plc reported a fiscal third quarter loss of €306 million, compared to a previous year quarter profit of €88 million. Features of this 3-month period to December 31, 2020 included:

• Q3 traffic fell from 36m to 8m (-78%).
• €3.5bn cash at quarter end (31 Dec.).
• Cost reduction & liquidity management continues at all Group airlines.
• Stansted low-cost growth deal extended by 4 years to 2028 – easyJet based slots secured.
• CDP awards Ryanair a strong (first time) B- climate protection score.
• Ryanair restricts non-EU shareholder voting rights post Brexit.
• Firm Order for 75x B737-8200 aircraft (pipeline of 210 firm aircraft).

* excl. €15m except. hedge ineffectiveness charge.

COVID-19:

Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc across the industry.  Christmas & New Year traffic was severely impacted by UK travel bans imposed at short notice by many EU Govts on 19 & 20 Dec.  These flight bans, and travel restrictions, saw the Group’s Dec. traffic fall by 83% to just 1.9m passengers.  As announced on 7 Jan., Ryanair expects the latest lockdowns and pre-arrival Covid test requirement to materially reduce flight schedules and traffic through to Easter.  The Group’s full-year (FY21) traffic forecast was therefore reduced to “between 26m to 30m” passengers.

The Covid pandemic has caused the closure of EU airlines including Flybe, Germanwings, Level and Montenegro Airlines.  Norwegian has already entered a creditor protection examinership and Eurocontrol predicts more EU airline failures in 2021.  Significant capacity reductions have been implemented by many EU airlines and a flood of unlawful State Aid has been committed by EU Govts to their flag carriers including Alitalia, Air France/KLM, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, TAP and others.  This illegal State Aid distorts competition and the level playing field across EU aviation.  We expect intra-European capacity to be significantly reduced for the next few years, which will create growth opportunities for Ryanair (Europe’s lowest cost airline) to take advantage of recovery growth incentives, as it takes delivery of 210 new (lower cost) Boeing 737s.  As soon as the Covid-19 virus recedes – and it will over the coming months as EU Govts accelerate vaccine rollouts – Ryanair and its partner airports will rapidly restore schedules, recover lost traffic, help the nations of Europe to reboot their tourism industry, and create jobs for young people across the cities and beaches of the EU.  We take some comfort from the success of the UK vaccine programme which is on target to vaccinate almost 50% of the UK population (30m) by the end of March.  The EU now needs to step up the slow pace of its rollout programme to match the UK’s performance.

Q3 BUSINESS REVIEW:

Revenue & Costs

Q3 revenue fell by 82% to €0.34bn as traffic shrank by 78% to 8.1m.  Ancillary revenue delivered a solid performance as more guests chose priority boarding and reserved seating. Q3 cost performance was strong, falling 63% thanks to the measures implemented over the past nine months.  Due to ongoing travel restrictions, reduced Q4 traffic and a revised aircraft delivery schedule, the Group recorded a €15m exceptional ineffectiveness charge on fuel and currency hedges in Q3.

The Group airlines continue to implement cost reductions.  In Dec., Ryanair increased its firm order for the Boeing 737-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft by 75 to 210 aircraft.  These environmentally friendly aircraft have 4% more seats, but burn 16% less fuel and lower noise emissions by 40%. This winter, Group airlines are returning 14 older B737 aircraft to lessors as leases mature and Ryanair has recently concluded the delivery of 7 older B737NGs (pre-sold in 2019) for cargo conversion.  Our Route Development teams are working with multiple airport partners on recovery/growth incentives.  During Q3 the Group announced a 2 aircraft base in Paris Beauvais, added a fourth aircraft to its Naples base for S.21, announced a 4 aircraft base in Venice Treviso and increased its route network/frequencies to Venice Marco Polo, Verona and Bari.  The Group also confirmed the reopening of its Shannon (Ireland) base for S.21.

Recently, Ryanair concluded a 4-year extension of its low-cost growth deal in Stansted to 2028, extending the Groups low cost leadership in the key London market. The Group has also secured easyJet’s 7 based aircraft slot portfolio in Stansted. To facilitate a ramp-up of S.21 operations, Ryanair is accelerating cabin crew training which will increase staff costs in Q4.  This investment, however, will ensure that Group airlines are well placed to take up traffic recovery opportunities that arise throughout S.21 and beyond.

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Ryanair’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the industry with a BBB credit rating (S&P and Fitch) and €3.5bn cash at 31 Dec. Approx. 80% of the Group’s owned fleet is unencumbered (with a book value of over €7bn). Since Mar. 2020, the Group has lowered cash burn by cutting costs, participating in EU Govt payroll support schemes, cancelling share buybacks and deferring non-essential capex.  Following its successful fund raising (€400m share placing & €850m eurobond) in Sept., the Group is well financed as it takes delivery of its first B737-8200 aircraft in Q4 and plans to repay over €1.5bn maturing debt in the next 6-months (incl. CCFF £600m in Mar. & €850m bond in Jun. 2021).

THE ENVIRONMENT:

Ryanair recently received a (first time) B- climate protection rating from CDP, making it one of the highest rated airlines in the world.  While this is a strong inaugural rating, highlighting Ryanair’s excellent environmental performance and very strong governance, the Group is committed to improving this score.  The new B737-8200s with 4% more seats, 16% lower fuel burn and 40% lower noise emissions will help Ryanair to lower its CO₂ and noise footprint and deliver on its target of being carbon neutral by 2050.  Ryanair airlines remain committed to eliminating non-recyclable plastic from our operations within 5-years and already over 80% of consumables onboard our flights are plastic free.

BREXIT:

Following the UK/EU Brexit trade agreement in late Dec., Ryanair implemented the measures necessary to remain majority EU owned and controlled to protect its EU airline licences. Ryanair has (as previously advised) restricted voting rights of non-EU shareholders from 1 Jan. The Group also received shareholder approval at its Dec. EGM to replace CREST with a system operated by Euroclear Bank for the electronic settlement of trading in Ryanair’s ordinary shares.  The migration of Ryanair’s ordinary shares to Euroclear will take place as part of a wider market migration of listed Irish companies shares at a date determined by Euronext Dublin – currently expected to be on or around 15 Mar. 2021.

BOEING MAX UPDATE:

In Dec., shortly after the FAAs ungrounding of the Boeing MAX aircraft in the U.S., Ryanair ordered a further 75x Boeing 737-8200 aircraft from Boeing increasing its firm order to 210 units.  Following EASAs recent certification of the MAX-8 to return to flying in Europe, we are hopeful that the B737-8200 will be certified in the coming weeks.  This will enable the Group to take delivery of up to 24 new aircraft before peak S.21. This order will deliver over a 4 year period between Spring 2021 and Dec. 2024 (FY25), facilitating traffic growth to 200m p.a. by FY26.  The B737-8200 aircraft is a “Gamechanger” for Ryanair’s customers and Europe’s consumers.  This aircraft, when delivered, will be the most audited, most regulated in aviation history.  With an exceptional environmental performance, this 197 seat Boeing aircraft is the perfect sized platform to allow Ryanair expand and grow its low fare services across Europe over the next decade while widening Ryanair’s unit cost leadership over all of our European airline competitors.

OUTLOOK:

FY21 will continue to be the most challenging year in Ryanair’s 35 year history.  Recently announced Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions across the EU & UK will reduce forecast FY21 traffic to between 26m and 30m (previously “up to 35m”), with more risk towards the lower end of the range.  While Q4 visibility remains limited due to uncertain and constantly changing Covid-19 travel restrictions, European Govt lockdowns, the timing of the rollout of vaccines across the EU and a very close-in booking curve, we are cautiously guiding an FY21 net loss (pre-exceptional items) of between €850m and €950m.

As we look beyond the Covid-19 crisis, and vaccinations roll out, the Ryanair Group expects to have a much lower cost base and a strong balance sheet, which will enable it to fund lower fares and add lower cost aircraft to capitalise on the many growth opportunities that will be available in all markets across Europe, especially where competitor airlines have substantially cut capacity or failed. We will work assiduously with our airport and Govt partners to restore routes and recover traffic for the benefit of our airports, our customers and our people as we try to prioritise the jobs and salary recovery of our people.

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Ryanair Holdings plc released its December traffic statistics as follows:

Ryanair operated approximately 22% of our normal December schedule with a 73% load factor.

Ryanair and Boeing announced today that Europe’s largest airline is placing a firm order for 75 additional 737 MAX airplanes, increasing its order book to 210 jets. Ryanair again selected the 737 8-200, a higher-capacity version of the 737-8, citing the airplane’s additional seats and improved fuel efficiency and environmental performance.

“As soon as the COVID-19 virus recedes – and it likely will in 2021 with the rollout of multiple effective vaccines – Ryanair and our partner airports across Europe will – with these environmentally efficient aircraft – rapidly restore flights and schedules, recover lost traffic and help the nations of Europe recover their tourism industries, and get young people back to work across the cities, beaches and ski resorts of the European Union,” O’Leary said.

Ryanair is the launch customer for the high-capacity 737-8 variant, having placed its first order for 100 airplanes and 100 options in late 2014, followed by firm orders of 10 airplanes in 2017 and 25 in 2018. The 737 8-200 will enable Ryanair to configure its aircraft with 197 seats, increasing revenue potential, and reduce fuel consumption by 16 percent compared to the airline’s previous airplanes.