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A Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS lands in Brussels, Belgium on June 18, 2023.
Thierry Monasse | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Ryanair posted an after-tax profit of 663 million euros ($737.26 million) on Monday for the three months ending June, well above pre-pandemic levels, but lowered its passenger growth forecast for 2023 due to Boeing delivery delays.
The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, added that it had already received indications from Boeing that some deliveries of 737-8200s jets may be delayed from April 2024 to June 2024, with potential implications for this winter and next spring.
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It now expects traffic to grow 9% to about 183.5 million in the year to March 2024 compared to the 185 million originally projected.
Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters he was not as concerned about the delays as he was a few months ago, that Boeing had improved significantly and that deliveries were more recently affected by factors beyond the aircraft maker’s control.
Ryanair, which carried record monthly passenger numbers in both May and June, saw average fares rise 42% year on year in the quarter amid a strong Easter and a weaker comparative period impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ticket prices for bookings for the July-September quarter, typically Ryanair’s most profitable period of the year, are expected to rise year-on-year at a low double-digit rate, Ryanair said.
“We noticed an easing of close-in rates in late June and early July,” CEO Michael O’Leary added in a statement.
“We are aware that consumers may need some rate stimulus to fill our 25% increased seat capacity this winter (compared to pre-Covid) after months of rising mortgage rates and consumer price inflation.”
Profit for the first quarter of Ryanair’s fiscal year quadrupled from the €170 million a year ago when air traffic started to pick up after COVID-19 lockdowns, beating the previous record for the period, €397 million set in 2017.
The final number compared to a forecast of 620 million euros in a company survey of analysts.
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