Ryanair scales back winter schedule as bookings fall

Low-cost airline Ryanair has slashed its winter flight schedule further as the outlook for the aviation industry darkens.  The Irish airline now intends to fly just 40% of last year's schedule between November and March, down from a previously planned 60%, following a sharp fall in bookings. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CE, blamed the cuts on “government mismanagement of EU air travel” as quarantine restrictions weaken demand for travel.  “Our focus continues to be on maintaining as large a schedule as we can sensibly operate to keep our aircraft, our pilots and our cabin crew employed while minimising job losses,” he said. Ryanair shares fell 3% to E11.90 in morning trade in London as other European airline stocks came under pressure. Shares of rival low-cost carrier easyJet fell 5% to 471.80p. Like its competitors, Ryanair has been forced to reduce flights after passenger bookings failed to materialise in expected numbers.  Typically, airlines are able to predict long-term passenger demand with precision, and adjust their schedules well in advance. But this year the industry has been forced into regular changes to try to match planes to erratic bookings that have been influenced by quarantine measures and the resurgence of the virus across many parts of Europe. By trimming its schedule, Ryanair intends to ensure its planes are at least 70% full to help save costs. The airline has enough available liquidity to survive more than 20 months in the current conditions, and longer if it began selling its aircraft, according to Stephen Furlong, an aviation analyst at Davy.<br/>