Irish airline expected to post losses of at least €350 million

Ryanair has warned it expects to post a loss of at least €350 million (£294 million) as it narrowed its guidance for the past year.

It came as the budget airliner said its passenger numbers “recovered strongly” but were still more than a third below pre-pandemic levels.

The Dublin-based company said it will report a net loss of between €350 million (£294 million) and €400 million (£336 million) for the year to the end of March.

Ryanair previously guided the market to a loss of between €250 million (£210 million) and €450 million (£378 million). 

The airline tumbled to an €815 million (£702 million) loss in the previous financial year due to an 81% plunge in customer traffic due to pandemic restrictions.

The group told shareholders today (Monday April 4) that passenger numbers increased to more than 97 million for the year to March, compared with 27.2 million in the year to March 2021.

However, restrictions in some regions, particularly at the start of the financial year, mean it remains significantly below pre-Covid traffic of 149 million customers.

The group, which release its full results next month, said it has reduced its net debt from €2.3 billion (£1.9 billion) to €1.5 billion (£1.25 billion) over the past year as it continues to stabilise its operations.

Ryanair said it has also increased its hedging to cover 80% of its fuel, amid significant volatility in oil prices sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.

In a separate update, Ryanair said that it had 11.2 million passengers last month, representing its strongest month since October.

It comes after a significant slump during the winter months with the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and related restrictions.