Ryanair chief criticises UK government as airline suffers losses

Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary condemned Boris Johnson’s “mismanagement” of the coronavirus crisis on Monday as the airline recorded losses over the lucrative summer months. The Irish airline’s boss also warned of a winter of deepening losses as governments roll out travel restrictions to contain the spread of the disease. The low-cost airline reported a net loss of E197m for the six months to the end of September, excluding exceptional items, after passenger numbers fell 80% to just over 17m. Charlie Cornish, CE of Manchester Airports Group, which owns London Stansted and East Midlands airports, also criticised the government over the new lockdown in England that comes into force this week and bans leisure travel. The government moves hit airline and aviation share prices in early trade, with BA owner IAG and Rolls-Royce two of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, although their shares recovered later in the London morning. The European summer is normally highly profitable for Ryanair, which recorded a profit of E1.15b in the corresponding period in 2019.  The European airline industry has been savaged by the pandemic. IAG suffered an operating loss of E5.95b in the first nine months of the year, while easyJet has lost more than GBP800m in 2020. Ryanair expects to record higher losses in the second half of its financial year, which began on October 1, following travel curbs in place across many of its key markets including the UK. Ryanair has no plans to cancel any UK flights despite the government restrictions banning leisure travel, which means customers will not receive refunds if they choose not to fly, O’Leary added.<br/>