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in
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RYANAIR LOWERS F.Y. GUIDANCE AS OMICRON VARIANT WEAKENS CHRISTMAS
TRAFFIC. JANUARY CAPACITY IS CUT BY 33%.
The
Board of Ryanair Holdings plc today, (22 December) announced that
it was lowering its full Year Guidance from a previous Net Loss
range of between €100m to €200m, as the Omicron Covid
variant and recent Government travel restrictions across Europe
have notably weakened close-in Christmas & New Year bookings.
This sudden downturn has also caused Ryanair this week to cut its
planned January schedule capacity by 33%.
The
impact of these recent Government travel restrictions, in
particular last weekend's ban on UK arrivals into France and
Germany, and the suspension of all EU flights to/from Morocco has
lowered Ryanair's expected December traffic from between 10m-11m,
to a lower range of between 9.0m-9.5m. In responding to these
restrictions, Ryanair has now cut its January capacity by 33%,
reducing its expected January traffic from approx. 10m to between
6m-7m. In light of the current uncertainty about the Omicron
variant, and intra Europe travel restrictions, no schedule cutbacks
have yet been decided for February or March 2022. These schedules
will be revisited in January as more scientific information becomes
available on the Omicron variant, its impact on hospitalisations,
European population and/or travel restrictions in February or
March.
As a
result of these new Covid developments, it is now likely that
Ryanair's full year traffic forecast will be just under 100m
passengers (previously guided at just over 100m), and the expected
Net Loss for the full year (end 31 March 2022) is likely to be
within a new range of €250m to €450m. However, these
figures are hugely sensitive to any further positive or negative
Covid news flow. Ryanair hopes to have more clarity, especially on
the impact of Omicron on intra Europe travel restrictions, in time
for its Q3 results on 31 January next.
ENDS
This announcement contains inside information.
For
further info please contact:
Peter Larkin
Piaras Kelly
Investor
Relations
Edelman Ireland Ryanair
Tel:
+353-1-592 1330
Tel:
+353-1-9451212
press@ryanair.com
ryanair@edelman.com
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.
