ROUNDUP/More new Boeing jets: Ryanair raises passenger forecast

DUBLIN (dpa-AFX) – Europe’s largest low-cost airline Ryanair is expecting more passengers than previously thought thanks to more new jets from Boeing. Because the ailing manufacturer is delivering earlier than expected, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary is now targeting 207 million passengers for the financial year up to the end of March 2026. That is over three percent more than in the previous year and one million more than previously promised, as the Irish company announced on Monday in Dublin. In the summer, Ryanair earned significantly more than a year earlier. Nevertheless, O’Leary did not dare to make a profit forecast for the current year.

However, the news was initially met with price losses on the stock exchange: Shortly after trading began in Dublin, Ryanair shares lost more than two percent to 25.64 euros. Since the turn of the year, the paper has gained 36 percent. At the same time, it is trading around 75 percent more expensive than at the end of 2019 – shortly before the corona pandemic almost brought aviation to a standstill around the world.

Ryanair is now worth around 27 billion euros on the stock market, around three times as much as Deutsche Lufthansa. The British Airways parent IAG (International Consolidated Airlines) has a value of 19.2 billion British pounds (almost 22 billion euros), the British low-cost airline easyJet only has 3.7 billion pounds (4.2 billion euros), and the French-Dutch AIR France-KLM is only valued at a good 3 billion euros on the stock exchange.

In recent years, however, O’Leary has had to scale back his growth plans several times. The main reason for this was the lack of new aircraft. The main supplier Boeing was heading into an ever deeper crisis after crashes and incidents, and the delivery of new jets continued to be delayed.

Management now expects to receive the remaining six aircraft from an order of 210 Boeing jets in time for next summer. As a result, the number of passengers is expected to grow to 215 million in the coming financial year. The first machines in the long version, the 737 Max 10, are scheduled to arrive in Ireland from spring 2027. However, this variant of the jet has not yet been approved by the aviation authorities and is also years behind the original schedule.

The Ryanair group from Dublin relies on a purely Boeing fleet, apart from its Austrian branch Lauda. At the end of October, the group had a total of around 640 aircraft and is dependent on Boeing supplying it with new machines. The only alternative is the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus (Airbus SE). However, the European manufacturer is sold out well into the new decade and is therefore unable to fill the gap.

Meanwhile, Ryanair’s business in the important summer travel season was significantly better than a year earlier: in the second quarter from July to September, the number of passengers was 61.2 million, only two percent more than a year earlier. However, sales increased by eight percent to almost 5.5 billion euros. The surplus even jumped by a fifth to a good 1.7 billion euros.

Ticket prices have returned to summer 2023 levels after falling seven percent in the previous summer quarter, O’Leary reported. In the entire first half of the financial year from April to September, the group earned more than 2.5 billion euros. For comparison: According to experts, Lufthansa is likely to earn around 1.9 billion euros in the entire year 2025 – and this amount even includes interest, taxes and special effects.

On Monday, O’Leary still thought it was too early to give a reliable profit target for Ryanair. However, the result should definitely be higher than in the last financial year./stw/niw/mis

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