Ryanair results for the year to the end of March show the average passenger now pays €49.80 in fares and €23.40. in ancillary fees. This is the highest average fare in tis history, marginally ahead of the €48 it charged in 2012 and 2014, although average ancillary revenues have fallen slightly since last year.
Average fares were €27.33 in 2022 and €37.03 pre pandemic, while the ancillary average was €22.81 in 2022 and €17.14 pre pandemic.
According to the results: Revenue grew 22pc to €13.44bn. Scheduled revenue increased 32pc to €9.15bn. Traffic grew 9pc to 183.7m while average fare rose 21pc to €49.80, thanks to a record H1 and strong Easter traffic in late Mar., offset by softer than expected Q3 fares and load factors (following the sudden, but welcome, removal of Ryanair flights from many OTA websites in early December). Ancillary sales increased 12pc to €4.30bn (€23.40 per passenger). Total FY24 revenue rose 25pc to €13.44bn. Operating costs increased 24pc to €11.38bn, primarily due to a 32pc increase in fuel costs, higher staff costs (incl. pay restoration, crew, engineering & handler pay rises, higher crewing ratios and pilot productivity pay as we improve operational resilience) and Boeing delivery delays. More importantly, the widening cost gap between Ryanair and our EU competitors (which is further enhanced by Ryanair’s low-cost financing and net interest income) remains a growing competitive advantage.
Ryanair’s owned B737 fleet is now 556 aircraft and total fleet 584 aircraft. Ryanair had a fleet of 146 Boeing 737 Max 8 at year-end and hope to increase this to 158 by the end of July, which is 23 short of contracted Boeing deliveries. We continue to work closely with Boeing CEO (Dave Calhoun), CFO (Brian West) and the new Seattle management team to improve quality and accelerate B737 aircraft deliveries. There remains a risk that Boeing deliveries could slip further. Ryanair expects to grow FY25 traffic by 8pc (198m to 200m passengers), subject to Boeing deliveries returning to contracted levels before year-end.
