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
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