"The recovery of the sector remains fragile." This was the main message that Michael O'Leary launched yesterday in the statement with the information on the results of the last fiscal year of the Irish airline in which the CEO of Ryanair assured that he expects to recover "reasonable profitability" in the year 2023 .
O'Leary was cautious despite Ryanair's strong performance in the last fiscal period, which ended in March. His losses were reduced to 335 million euros compared to the 1,015 that he had lost the previous year due to the movement restrictions derived from the policies to combat covid.
Without them, the airline's turnover multiplied by three to exceed 4,800 million euros and transported 97.1 million passengers, compared to 27.5 million in the previous 12 months, with 82% of the seats in its aircraft sold.
An activity that was still 35% lower than the pre-covid figures, but that Ryanair hopes to exceed in this fiscal year in which it expects to transport a total of 165 million passengers, compared to 149 million before the pandemic. Even so, Ryanair bets on caution in its forecasts and aims only to "recover reasonable profitability by 2023".
"Given the continued risk of adverse news about COVID and the war in Ukraine, it is impractical, if not impossible, to provide a sensible or accurate earnings guidance range at this time," O'Leary said in the statement.
In it, he also confirmed that the demand data for the summer is similar to that prior to the covid, with which he is confident that he will be able to withdraw the price cuts to stimulate it as they have had to do in recent months.
Among the main direct impacts facing the airline is the rise in fuel prices. In 2022, operating costs have already increased by 113% in general and the fuel bill has skyrocketed by 237%, to 1,830 million euros. Ryanair currently covers 80% of its fuel needs at less than $70 a barrel. The airline expects to have more than 70 Boeing 737-8200 planes, formerly known as Max, this summer that burn less fuel and carry more passengers. If you do not receive the original orders, you are considering going to the second-hand market.
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