Dublin (awp/afp) – The Irish airline Ryanair on Monday decided not to present annual forecasts, due to lack of visibility due to the war in the Middle East, despite a sharp increase in profit for its financial year which has just ended.
The conflict “has created economic uncertainty and we still do not know when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen,” said Director General Michael O’Leary in a press release.
“In the absence of visibility for the second half of the year and given the high volatility of fuel prices and supply risks, it is far too early to provide at this stage any significant profit forecast” for the 2026/2027 financial year, he adds.
The company, which serves 36 countries, mainly in Europe, according to its website, benefits from coverage of 80% of its fuel needs for the current financial year, thanks to advance purchases at a cost of around $67 per barrel of kerosene.
But this has “climbed to more than 150 dollars per barrel” and world prices should “remain high compared to pre-conflict levels for a few months”, underlines the boss of Ryanair.
Taxes in the EU
“If the price of unhedged fuel remains at its current high levels”, the costs over the financial year could increase, he adds.
In addition to the Middle East and the rise in kerosene prices, the company highlights that the war in Ukraine, “macroeconomic shocks”, strikes and “malfunctions in European air traffic control” constitute other factors of uncertainty for the 2026/2027 financial year.
Michael O’Leary, known for his outspokenness, also attacks environmental taxes in the European Union which “are expected to increase by a further 300 million euros this year, to around 1.4 billion euros, making air travel in Europe even less competitive”.
He intends to allocate the group’s growth “to regions and airports that have reduced aviation taxes and encourage traffic growth (such as Albania, Italy, Morocco, Slovakia and Sweden)” and move away from “high-tax, uncompetitive markets, such as Austria, Belgium, Germany” and parts of Spain.
Charities in hausse
Despite the uncertain outlook for the current year, the low-cost airline announced on Monday good results for its financial year ended at the end of March, with a profit up 35%, to 2.174 billion euros and a turnover up 11%, to 15.544 billion euros.
The group, which is targeting 300 million passengers by 2034, also transported 208.4 million passengers last year, a figure up 4%.
It anticipates a further increase in traffic of 4% to 216 million passengers over the current financial year.
The results for the 2025/2026 financial year are explained in particular by a 10% increase in ticket prices, which compensated for the 7% drop observed the previous year, underlines Ryanair.
But in a context of uncertainty linked to the war and the evolution of purchasing power, prices are starting to decline, indicates the group.
The stock lost more than 2.5% at the start of the morning on the Dublin Stock Exchange.
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