The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced 7% profit decrease between April and September 2018 to 1.2 billion EUR. The summer period has been marked by a series of strikes of pilots and cabin crew. Both groups insist on better pay and working conditions, with concurrent protests leading to the cancellation of multiple flights over the period under review.
The company’s profits also suffer from rising fuel prices.
Despite the negative results, the traffic jumped by 6% and the aircraft worked almost at their full capacity – 96%. Average ticket prices have fallen by 3% to 46 EUR, but extra revenue, such as baggage and on-board reservation fees, rose by 27% to 1.3 billion EUR.
After many years of ignoring employees’ attempts to create a trade union, Ryanair finally agreed to this move by the end of 2017.
After long disagreements in talks to improve working conditions, the airline was punished with a series of mass protests and strikes in several European countries.
The CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary commented that strikes have little effect on scheduled flights, and competitors such as Air France and Lufthansa have suffered more severely last summer.
Rising oil prices also increase the cost of the airline. The carrier spent 1.3 billion EUR on fuel in the first half of this year, representing an increase of 22% over the same period last year.
Earlier this month, Ryanair warned that profits for the full year would be 12% lower than the previous forecast, reaching an amount of 1.1-1.2 billion EUR.
This comes after the company announced a record profit for March 2017 – March 2018 of 1.45 billion EUR after taxes.
According to Michael O’Leary, the profits for the year remain heavily dependent on oil prices and climate factors.
