DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair cut its profit forecast for the fiscal year on Monday after some online travel agencies stopped selling its flights in December, forcing the group to cut fares to fill the seats.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers said it expected annual after-tax profit of between 1.85 billion and 1.95 billion euros, down from its November forecast.
Ryanair previously forecast a profit of between 1.85 billion and 2.05 billion euros.
“While traffic and fares were higher than the previous year, charges and yields in the run-up to Christmas/New Year were lower than expected as Ryanair cut prices in response to the sudden removal (but welcome) flights on Pirate OTA (online travel agency) sites in early December,” Ryanair said in a statement.
Some online travel agencies, accused by Ryanair of adding abusive extra fees, have stopped offering the airline’s flights for sale following a number of legal actions.
The group said the move could have some impact on yields per passenger in the first three months of 2024.
Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s chief financial officer, told Reuters on Monday that the impact of the travel agents’ decision was already starting to “fade”.
(Reporting Conor Humphries, Augustin Turpin, editing by Zhifan Liu)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
