Ryanair cuts annual passenger target as it 'writes off' winter

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the approaching winter season will be a "write off" as the low-cost airline cut its annual passenger target for the second time.

In July, Ryanair reduced its target for passengers carried in the year to March 2021 to 60 million from 80 million forecast in May after Covid-19 and lockdown measures decimated demand.

Travel restrictions since then have eased, but speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, O’Leary said: "We are guiding now for about 50 million passengers for the full year to the end of March." Dublin-based Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, is estimating an average of around 5 million passengers per month during winter, and expects fares to be "aggressively down" as airlines cut prices to boost demand.

"We’re hoping to see a vaccine emerge maybe in the first quarter of next year," O’Leary said. "But I think the winter of 2020 will essentially be a write-off."

As a result, the carrier will likely close bases and withdraw capacity in countries where "completely defective and non-scientific quarantines" are in place, he added.

O’Leary was critical of the way the British and Irish governments were handling the crisis. He told Bloomberg leaders were focusing on the wrong data and should instead put more effort into test-and-trace programmes.

"It’s largely political mismanagement. The Germans and the Italians are much more effective.

"The government’s got to come up with some measures here to give the airlines and the airline industry a break this winter."

Along with others in the airline industry, O’Leary wants the government to lower passenger duties in the UK.

On Tuesday, easyJet said it would cut flights after the UK government announced further quarantine measures. The budget airline said the move had knocked consumer confidence and hit demand.

As at 1015 BST shares in Ryanair were down 2%, while easyJet was off 5%.