Irish low-budget airline Ryanair posted profits of 683 million euros in the second quarter, almost quadrupling compared to last year. The profit growth came thanks to passenger growth and more expensive tickets, as costs have also risen for Ryanair.

Meanwhile, Belgian Ryanair pilots in Charleroi have announced another strike due to a social dispute over higher wages, among other things.  At the same time, the airline says it will have to offer tickets at dumping prices this winter to fill up its planes.

600 000 passengers per day

From April to June, the low-cost airline carried 0,4 million passengers, 11% more than last year, while the average ticket price per person was 27% higher. At the same time, the company saw its operating costs increase by 23% due to an increase of almost a third in its fuel and personnel costs.

However, while the airline is currently operating ‘the largest summer schedule ever’ – over 3 200 flights and up to 600 000 passengers per day, with an occupancy rate of 95% – Ryanair also warns that the momentum of robust demand and rising fares ‘looks weaker in the second quarter’.

The company expects traffic for the entire year to increase to around 183,5 million passengers (+9%), slightly less than initially forecast.

Delay in plane delivery

The revised forecast comes because of the delayed delivery of new Boeing aircraft. Ryanair ordered as many as 300 737-MAX planes (of which 150 are firm and 150 optional) with the US aircraft maker, worth 40 billion dollars. “They represent 21% more seats, 20% less fuel, and are 50% quieter,” says Ryanair about these planes.

By March next year, the airline is targeting 173 additional aircraft on top of the 558 existing ones. With this command, Ryanair expects “to create over 10 000 new, well-paid jobs for highly trained aviation professionals”.

Dumping prices

At the same time, Ryanair hinted that it may have to offer more “fare incentives” this winter. “We want to see our planes filled, and we will set the price to achieve that,” said Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan.

According to him, however, it is still too early to determine what the fares will look like, although analysts assume he is referring to lower prices to get the planes full.

For your information: prices are usually lower in autumn and winter compared to summer, the high season. Last year, top man Michael O’Leary announced that, in the coming years, Ryanair would no longer offer tickets at absolute bottom prices, such as 0,99 or 9,99 euros.

Pilots strike again

That financial news must come in bitterly for Ryanair’s pilots based at Charleroi, who announced that they would strike again on 29 and 30 July just last week. Pilots already went on strike for a weekend in Mid-July, leading to 126 canceled flights at Brussels South Charleroi Airport and nearly 20 000 passengers affected.

The social conflict is over higher wages – after sacrificing pay during the corona pandemic, they want it to be indexed – and there are also problems with rest periods – Ryanair wants fewer rest days to be inserted between flights. The unions speak of “a total lack of respect for the company toward the pilots”.

As recently as March, Ryanair condemned the “continued cancellation” of overflights in France due to the strike by French air traffic controllers. It then called on the European Commission to act and launched a petition to this end, which 1 million people signed. Ryanair demands minimum services and external management of flights during such strikes.