BUSINESS NEWS
Michael O’Leary: ‘The narrative is going to move from lockdown and restrictions to vaccination programmes and lifting restrictions’
O’Leary predicts strong recovery by this summer
Ryanair chief expects airline to operate at up to 70% capacity. Ian Taylor reports
Ryanair is “ready to pounce” as soon as there is a restart in travel but Easter “will be a write-off”, Michael O’Leary has warned. The carrier’s chief executive,
usually the most bullish of forecasters, predicted only “a modest recovery in traffic in April, May and June” as Ryanair reported a €306 million loss for the three months to December on Monday. However, he said “we’re already
seeing a significant uptick in bookings 36 4 FEBRUARY 2021
for travel in that period [April- to-June]” and he forecast a sharp recovery in the peak summer months. O’Leary reported Ryanair will look
to operate 20%-25% of its capacity from April to June, 50%-70% between July and September and 75%-90% in the final quarter of this year. He said: “We believe there will be a
strong recovery on short-haul holiday routes and city breaks [and] the following year we’ll go back to strong growth.” But he warned: “Easter will be
a write-off and May will be sluggish.” Ryanair will look to expand rapidly
at the expense of other carriers as soon as there is a restart, O’Leary said, arguing: “We’ll emerge with a much-lower cost base and, where there is significantly reduced capacity, we’ll look to take advantage. “We’ll use that to take as much market share as we can cope with.”
Continued on page 34
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