Ryanair Sees Lower Short-Term Load Factors From OTA Site Flight Removals

By Ian Walker

Ryanair Holdings said that the removal of its flights from some online travel agent websites is likely to reduce short-term load factors but won't materially affect fiscal 2024 traffic or profit guidance.

The Irish low-cost carrier said Wednesday that its load factor--a measure of how full a plane is--in December was 91% compared with 92% for the same month a year earlier. It said the removal of flights from OTA sites accounted for a small fraction of bookings and were expected to reduce the load factor in December and January by 1% or 2%.

Ryanair added that the removal will also soften short-term yields but it plans to lower fares where necessary to encourage passengers to book directly.

The company has previously guided for pre-exceptional profit after tax for the year ending March 31 of between 1.85 billion euros and 2.05 billion euros ($2.02 billion and $2.24 billion), but that this was dependent developments in Ukraine and Gaza.

It has also said that the company expects to carry 183.5 million passengers for fiscal 2024, but this was dependent on Boeing meeting delivery commitments.

It said Wednesday that over 900 flights were cancelled in December due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Shares at 1130 GMT were down 74 European cents, or 4%, at EUR18.36, but are up 46% over the past 12 months.

Write to Ian Walker at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 03, 2024 06:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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