Ryanair seeing better momentum in bookings, less need to discount, CEO says
CEO O'Leary says profit may be slightly down this year
O'Leary fears further delivery delays due to Boeing strike
CEO "optimistic but not confident" about MAX 10 deliveries
Adds more quotes from interview; background
By Angelo Amante
ROME, Sept 17 (Reuters) -Ryanair RYA.I has seen better momentum in bookings since August and less need to discount prices, CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters on Tuesday, but added that profit for the year was likely to be slightly down on last year.
He also warned that he was optimistic rather than confident that Boeing would be able to deliver on time the airline's next big aircraft order, the MAX 10.
Ryanair shares slumped in July after it reported ticket prices had seen annual falls of 15% in the three months to the end of June, heightening fears of a weak summer for Europe's airlines.
Prices will likely be down 5-9% in the three months to the end of September from the same period last year, he said, with signs of improvement in recent weeks.
"We were having to discount heavily to hit our load factor objectives.I think, from about August onwards... there's a better momentum of bookings, we're having to discount less."
"We think the trend will be towards smaller discounts rather than bigger discounts on the way into September, October, November.
O'Leary said the Irish carrier was producing "very strong profits" but conceded they "could be slightly down this year against the prior year" despite traffic being up 8%.
Shares in Ryanair spiked higher after his comments, also giving a boost to rival European airlines.
Asked about a strike at planemaker Boeing which is involving more than 30,000 workers in the United States, he said he feared delays to deliveries, although he was confident an agreement to end it would be reached "in the next three or four weeks".
Ryanair, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, already has 150 firm orders for the MAX 10, the largest jet in the 737 family, and options for 150 more, with the first deliveries due in 2027.
He said Boeing told Ryanair the MAX 10 was expected to get certified in the second half of 2025 and that made him "optimistic but not confident" about the timing.
O'Leary said Ryanair was not interested in taking over slots that will be given up at Milan's Linate airport to preserve competition following a planned tie-up between state-owned ITA Airways and Lufthansa LHAG.DE.
He made clear Ryanair wanted to achieve stronger growth at Milan's main airport of Malpensa - further fromthe city - especially if EasyJet EZJ.L wanted to move more operations to Linate.
Reporting by Angelo Amante; Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Jason Neely and Keith Weir
Activos relacionados
Últimas noticias
Descargo de responsabilidades: Cada una de las entidades de XM Group proporciona un servicio de solo ejecución y acceso a nuestra plataforma de trading online, permitiendo a una persona ver o usar el contenido disponible en o a través del sitio web, sin intención de cambiarlo ni ampliarlo. Dicho acceso y uso están sujetos en todo momento a: (i) Términos y Condiciones; (ii) Advertencias de riesgo; y (iii) Descargo completo de responsabilidades. Por lo tanto, dicho contenido se proporciona exclusivamente como información general. En particular, por favor tenga en cuenta que, los contenidos de nuestra plataforma de trading online no son ni solicitud ni una oferta para entrar a realizar transacciones en los mercados financieros. Operar en cualquier mercado financiero implica un nivel de riesgo significativo para su capital.
Todo el material publicado en nuestra plataforma de trading online tiene únicamente fines educativos/informativos y no contiene –y no debe considerarse que contenga– asesoramiento ni recomendaciones financieras, tributarias o de inversión, ni un registro de nuestros precios de trading, ni una oferta ni solicitud de transacción con instrumentos financieros ni promociones financieras no solicitadas.
Cualquier contenido de terceros, así como el contenido preparado por XM, como por ejemplo opiniones, noticias, investigaciones, análisis, precios, otras informaciones o enlaces a sitios de terceros que figuran en este sitio web se proporcionan “tal cual”, como comentarios generales del mercado y no constituyen un asesoramiento en materia de inversión. En la medida en que cualquier contenido se interprete como investigación de inversión, usted debe tener en cuenta y aceptar que dicho contenido no fue concebido ni elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos legales diseñados para promover la independencia en materia de investigación de inversiones y, por tanto, se considera como una comunicación comercial en virtud de las leyes y regulaciones pertinentes. Por favor, asegúrese de haber leído y comprendido nuestro Aviso sobre investigación de inversión no independiente y advertencia de riesgo en relación con la información anterior, al que se puede acceder aquí.
