Airlines Ryanair reports 20% profit decrease in Q1
Ryanair has presented its numbers for the first quarter of 2018 and reported a loss in profits due to several circumstances.
The carrier announced, that the profit decreased by 20%. Reasons for the trend are, according to the airline, lower fares and higher fuel & pilot costs.
However, Ryanair noticed a strong traffic growth by 7% and was able to book profits of €319 Million. Moreover, the earlier timing of Easter led to a 4% decline in aircraft fares.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “As previously guided, Q1 PAT fell by 20% to €319m due to lower fares, the absence of half of Easter in the quarter, higher oil prices and pilot costs. Traffic grew 7% to 37.6m, despite over 2,500 flight cancellations caused by ATC staff shortages and ATC strikes. Ryanair’s lower fares delivered an industry leading 96% load factor."
The carrier recently experienced ATC staff shortages and strikes. Over this course, Ryanair cancelled over 2,500 flights in the UK, Germany and Greece, which reflects in 45,000 passengers that saw their flight cancelled.
Moreover, the carrier had to deal with two pilot strikes. In a statement, Ryanair wrote: "We suffered 2 unnecessary strikes by a small minority (25%) of Irish based pilots in July (with a 3rd strike threatened for 24 July). Cabin crew have also threatened strikes in Spain, Portugal, and Belgium on 25 & 26 July."
In total, the airline said, that it took delivery of 14 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the year´s first quarter. Moreover, 239 new routes have been launched. While the bookings are ahead compared to last year, the fares for airline tickets are lower. Ryanair stated, that it still sees overcapacity in the European market, especially in the German market, where a strong competition can be seen this Summer.
Regarding Laudamotion, Ryanair commented, that it hopes to increase its investment from current 24.9% to 75% over the coming weeks. Recently, Ryanair received the EU competition approval to do so. The Austrian carrier had seen the cancellation of leasing agreements over nine A320 aircraft by Lufthansa several days ago.
Ryanair is a major low-cost carrier, headquartered in Ireland. The carrier flies with a fleet of over 440 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Currently, 220 destinations are being served. Subsidiary airlines are Laudamotion and Ryanair Sun.
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