Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, warned that an increase in air passenger duty (APD) by the Westminster government could lead to the cancellation of flights from England, as routes would no longer be viable.
He stated that domestic flights are already marginally profitable, and any tax hike would necessitate a reduction in capacity.
Ryanair’s shares dropped 2pc due to revised passenger estimates for the next year, compounded by uncertainty over aircraft deliveries from Boeing.
O’Leary expressed concerns about receiving a full order of 30 aircraft scheduled for March to June next year. Ryanair was supposed to get 20 deliveries by the end of December, but they would now come in January and February: “That’s fine. We’ll have them in time for next summer. The big issue for Ryanair is we’re due 30 aircraft in March, April, May and June of next year, and how many of those will we get? I think we’re clearly going to walk back our traffic growth for next year because I don’t think we’re going to get all those 30 aircraft.”
