Ryanair loses 273 million euros April June 2021, 47% more than a year ago, despite a significant recovery in traffic - The low-cost airline Ryanair presented on Monday the results of its first fiscal quarter that ended in June.

The Irish lost 273 million euros between April and June, compared to 185 million euros lost during the same period in 2020.

Although traffic recovered significantly compared to the first quarter of the year and went from 0.5 million to 8.1 million passengers (with an occupancy factor of 73%), the cancellation of Easter traffic and the delay in the relaxation of government travel restrictions throughout the European Union in May and June required a significant stimulation of prices, says in the statement the company that runs Michael O'Leary.

As for its revenues, the airline has assured that they increased almost 200%, to 371 million euros in the first quarter –compared to 125 million a year ago–, due to the higher turnover of complementary services such as priority boarding or seat reservation, which generated approximately 22 euros per passenger.

Operating costs increased by 116% to EUR 675 million, driven mainly by variable costs such as fuel, airport and handling charges and routing charges. The Group & apos; s fuel requirements are covered by just under 60 per cent for year 22, at $ 565 per metric ton.

Ryanair loses 273 million euros April June 2021

In this first fiscal quarter, Ryanair reduced net debt to 1,660 million euros (at the end of March it was 2,280 million euros).

Ryanair recorded in its last fiscal year 2020-2021 (closed on 31 March 2021) a net loss of EUR 815 million, compared to the net profit of EUR 1,002 million obtained in the previous year.

Despite admitting that it was the “hardest” year in its 35-year history, and the company's first red numbers since 2009, the airline sees clear signs of “a strong recovery."

Ryanair loses 273 million euros April June 2021

The company believes that this fiscal year remains a challenge due to the uncertainty caused by constant travel restrictions. Despite this, the lifting of certain measures, especially for vaccinated people, has led the Group to see the reserves of the second fiscal quarter recover strongly (albeit with low rates).

"The launch on 1 July of the EU Covid Digital Certificates and the abolition of quarantine for UK arrivals vaccinated from mid-July have led to an increase in stocks in recent weeks. Prices remain below pre-COVID-19 levels and Ryanair customers will continue to enjoy great value when traveling this summer as we focus on recovering traffic, employment and tourism in our European network," they say in the statement.

"If, as is currently expected, most of Europe's adult population is fully vaccinated by September, we believe we can expect a strong recovery in air transport by the second half of the fiscal year, as is currently the case in domestic air transport in the United States," they say.

Ryanair loses 273 million euros April June 2021

Ryanair expects that the result for the year 2021-2022 is between a small loss and the break-even point, which will depend on the continuation of the deployment of vaccines this summer and that there are no adverse changes in COVID-19 variants, they say.

During the first quarter, the airline has continued to work with its airport partners across Europe and negotiated lower airport costs, recovery incentives and the expansion of many low-cost airport growth agreements.

Ryanair faces for this summer of 2021 the largest deployment of domestic flights in its history, and not only aims to recover the normality before the pandemic, but its ambitious goal for 2026 is to reach organically the 200 million passengers worldwide.

Ryanair loses 273 million euros April June 2021

However, in view of the upcoming winter season, Ryanair could change its schedule and reduce flights in Spain.

The reason for this change would be the increase of more than 5% in airport taxes proposed by Aena for the next 5 years, instead of the 2% reduction that has been ruled by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) in its non-binding report. If the increase finally comes into effect, the Irish airline threatens to reduce flight numbers.

The company said earlier this month that it makes no sense to make efforts to reduce rates while facing excessively expensive rates. Taxes are one of the elements that have the most influence on the cost of air tickets, especially short-haul tickets.

If the airport manager finally raises fees, they will review the impact it will have on their business and weigh moving to another country.