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embedded an enormous cost advantage over our competitors.” There is now “a seismic unit cost differential” between Ryanair and competing carriers, he said, when at the same time “a huge amount of capacity has been weeded out” of the market. He argued: “Costs have


moved upward. Wages have risen. Most [airline] fleets have refinanced by sale and leasebacks [of aircraft], so our competitors are paying significantly higher ownership and leasing costs. “Many of our competitors


seem in retreat. We’ll have 25% more capacity than pre-Covid in a market which will be at best 90%-95% of pre-Covid capacity. It’s a very unusual environment where capacity is down and demand surging. We’re looking at a fundamental shift toward Ryanair. We see the capacity constraints being retained over the medium term. Capacity will be constrained not just next year but for the next four to five years.” However, O’Leary also


insisted he remains cautious, saying: “There is too much irrational exuberance among our competitors. We expect wage inflation in every market. We have a very large burden of debt – with still about €3 billion in debt to repay – [and] it’s vital we pay down debt when interest rates are rising.” Asked whether he would


remain at the head of Ryanair, O’Leary said: “This business is no longer dependent on me. I used to make all the decisions. Increasingly, I make very few. We have a very good management team. Much as I would like to think it’s all down to my genius, it’s not.”


Ryanair posts €1.43bn profit and returns to GDS


Ian Taylor


Ryanair returned to pre-Covid profit levels and surpassed its pre- pandemic passenger numbers in the 12 months to the end of March. The carrier reported an annual


profit of €1.43 billion despite a loss of €154 million in the January-to-March quarter. Passenger numbers rose to just below 169 million, up from 149 million in the year to March 2020. Ryanair also announced a return


to the Amadeus GDS last week for the first time since 2017. Announcing the full-year results on


Monday, Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said Ryanair’s market share had “grown significantly” in most of Europe and described forward bookings and fares into the summer as “robust” with “peak fares trending ahead of last year”. He reported the carrier had


“invested heavily in our operations in anticipation of further air traffic control disruptions this summer”.


EasyJet reports strong demand but £415m winter loss


EasyJet reported a £415 million loss for the six months to the end of March last week, but chief executive Johan Lundgren reported “strong demand for flights and holidays”. Lundgren said the carrier was


seeing 20% higher revenue per seat year on year in the three months to June and he forecast a full-year pre-tax profit of £80 million at easyJet holidays.


46 25 MAY 2023 Ryanair is back on Amadeus Ryanair announced its return to


the Amadeus GDS in a direct appeal to travel management companies (TMCs). Eddie Wilson, Ryanair chief executive, said: “A lot of TMCs see a surge in traffic. Amadeus will deliver the management of expenses. The channel will work for us.” The carrier has jumped on and off


GDSs throughout its history, quitting Amadeus at the end of 2017 after failing to agree a commercial deal, although the airline has remained on the Travelport and Sabre GDSs. It also continued to use Amadeus’s


The easyJet tour operator will


launch into a second source market, Switzerland, this summer – selling holidays for 2024. Lundgren said the expansion into Switzerland “will be the first of a number of planned new European markets” after easyJet holidays doubled its customer numbers year on year in the first half of the current financial year. EasyJet reported its capacity


for July to September would be “around pre-pandemic levels”, but with capacity to the Greek islands increased by two-thirds (67%). The carrier’s half-year revenue


rose to almost £2.7 billion; however, Lundgren noted


Navitaire platform as its core reservations system throughout. Ryanair was on Travelport GDSs


Galileo and Worldspan, Sabre and Amadeus until 2004 when it switched to direct sales only. It returned to Travelport in April 2014, despite O’Leary declaring only months earlier: “We are not going back on GDSs and paying ludicrous amounts to Amadeus, Worldspan [Travelport] or Sabre who add nothing to the process.” It subsequently rejoined both


Amadeus, in a three-year deal, and Sabre in 2014. However, Ryanair’s cheapest fares have never been available on the GDSs and O’Leary stressed this week: “We overwhelmingly take bookings on Ryanair.com.” Jose-Luis Aragon, Amadeus


regional vice-president for air distribution in Europe, said: “We’re very happy Ryanair has chosen to capitalise on Amadeus’s technology to support its distribution strategy.”


Johan Lundgren


“significantly increased fuel costs and industry-wide inflation” in addition to the costs of “resilience measures”. This resulted in the airline losing an average £11.12 on every seat sold through the winter.


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURES: Shutterstock/Peter Krocka, altanaka, Vladimir1984, Yulia Grigoryeva; Ben Queenborough/PinPep


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