(Jan 26): Ryanair Holdings plc raised its full-year guidance for passenger growth and fares as the Irish budget carrier benefits from improved Boeing Co aircraft deliveries and stronger travel demand.
Traffic for fiscal 2026 is set to rise 4% to almost 208 million passengers, up from the 207 million predicted in November, Ryanair said on Monday (Jan 26). Fares will exceed 7% growth as they trend higher than the year prior, the airline said.
Ryanair said it’s “cautiously guiding” for full-year profit after tax excluding exceptional items of €2.13 billion to €2.23 billion. In the third quarter, profit after tax fell to €115 million, excluding a provision of €85 million for a fine from Italy’s competition authority. That’s down from €149 million the previous year and compares with the €90.2 million average of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
“Consumers continue to travel in numbers, capacity continues to be hugely constrained in Europe, and all of this is leading to slightly higher airfares,” Ryanair chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said in an interview.
Europe’s biggest budget carrier cited good progress with Boeing deliveries, a turnaround from its frustration a year ago as its sole aircraft supplier struggled to hand over jets on time. The airline expects the final four Max 8 models to be delivered by February, while the newer Max 10, which hasn’t been certified yet, is set to come into Ryanair’s fleet in spring 2027.
Boeing is “ever increasingly confident” that it can get certification for the Max 10 this summer, Sorahan said. The second flight tests for the Max 7 and Max 10 as well as the ramp-up for a fourth production line are positive signs from the planemaker, he said.
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The deliveries will allow Ryanair to raise its fiscal 2027 passenger goal from 215 million to 216 million, it said. The airline previously raised its passenger growth target for fiscal 2026 to 207 million, compared with a previous forecast of 206 million.
Shares are down about 3% so far this year in Dublin trading, following a 55% jump last year.
The results come days after Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary clashed with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk over the economics of SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi service. The online spat, in which both men called each other “idiots”, boosted bookings between 2% and 3% as it created publicity for the airline, O’Leary said last week.
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Sorahan said that Wi-Fi isn’t a product the company would consider at this stage because of the costs associated with the installation and because flights are typically too short to warrant a service that passengers are unlikely to want to pay for.
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