Ryanair is far from alone in having experienced a terrible 2020 in the aviation sector, but the latest quarterly figures released this week do paint a particularly bleak picture. The losses, €306 million in the three months ending 31 December, led the company to declare its current financial year as "the most challenging in Ryanair’s 35 year history."
Optimism is not exactly running high for the final quarter of the FY21, either, with total losses scraping the billion euro mark predicted: "While Q4 visibility remains limited due to uncertain and constantly changing Covid-19 travel restrictions, European Govt lockdowns, the timing of the rollout of vaccines across the EU and a very close-in booking curve, we are cautiously guiding an FY21 net loss (pre-exceptional items) of between €850m and €950m."
Longer term, the outlook is seemingly a little rosier, however: "As we look beyond the Covid-19 crisis, and vaccinationsr oll out, the RyanairGroup expects to have a much lower cost base and a strong balance sheet, which will enable it to fund lower fares and add lower cost aircraft to capitalise on the many growth opportunities that will be available in all markets across Europe, especially where competitor airlines have substantially cut capacity or failed.
