Lossmaking Ryanair turns to discounts as Omicron dents bookings

The airline warned of “huge uncertainty” for pricing and yields through to the end of its financial year in March, adding that investors should expect further disruption to air travel. “I wouldn’t rule out one more twist before we’re over the other side of this,” said Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s CFO. The low-cost airline reported a net loss of €96m, better than the €321m loss in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenues were E1.5b from 31m passengers in its third quarter ending on December 31. The Irish carrier suffered a drop in bookings and cut January flying schedules after European governments reimposed tougher border restrictions at the end of last year in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron strain. Ryanair echoed rivals Wizz Air and easyJet, which last week predicted a resurgence in bookings for summer holidays after a bleak winter. “We have noticed an uptick in bookings in the last couple of weeks as the UK government has removed restrictions,” said Sorahan. “There remains a fair bit of policy uncertainty for the next couple of months as governments hopefully roll off travel restrictions.” Following the “steep declines” in filled seats on flights, Ryanair said passengers were continuing to book at the last minute, and “significant price stimulation at lower prices” would be needed for air travel to recover. Ryanair reaffirmed its expectations that it would fly just under 100m passengers this financial year. It stuck by full-year financial guidance issued in December, which forecast a net loss of E250m to E450m. Ryanair has been expanding aggressively during the Covid-19 crisis, which has bankrupted rivals such as Flybe and Norwegian and pushed the likes of Alitalia and TAP to cut capacity. The Irish airline plans to grow by more than 50% over pre-Covid levels by its 2026 financial year. <br/>