Overview
- Ryanair reported a fall in profit with second-quarter after-tax profit down 6% to €1.6 billion and a 15% drop for the first half of the year.
- Management has told investors it expects about €2 billion of additional jet-fuel costs over the coming year that will squeeze operating margins.
- The company has opened a wide cost-review that is considering measures such as wage freezes for staff from April, renegotiating airport fees, changing onboard staffing and greater use of artificial intelligence while saying layoffs are not planned.
- CEO Michael O’Leary warned ticket prices across Europe might need to rise by around 20% to offset the fuel bill but said the exact scale of any fare increase is uncertain.
- Ryanair says its fuel hedges are running down and that later bookings and consumer caution have so far depressed prices, which raises the chance of higher fares, network changes and similar moves by other European carriers.