Europe’s largest airline has seen annual earnings drop by 16% after cutting air fares – but revealed a price hike as it seeks to return to growth.
Ryanair reported profits after tax fell to €1.61bn (£1.35bn) for the year to 31 March, down from €1.92bn (£1.61bn) in 2024, still the second highest on record.
On average, plane tickets were 7% cheaper during this period than the 12 months before, it said.
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There had been a 21% rise in fares in the year up to March 2024, which bosses had signalled was due to end.
Higher-for-longer interest rates and inflation in the first half of the year meant ticket prices had to come down, the budget carrier said.
But fares are already back on the rise, Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said.
The airline “cautiously” expects to recover “most, but not all” of the fare decline, which he said will boost profits.
Demand for summer flights is “strong”, Mr O’Leary said, with peak fares “modestly” ahead of last year.
In recent months, that rebound has already been under way. Fares since April are on track to be “a mid-high teen per cent ahead” by the end of next month, compared with the same period last year.
That trend is expected to continue to July, August and September, Mr O’Leary said.
“While we cautiously expect to recover most, but not all of last year’s 7% fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth in 2025-26, it is far too early to provide any meaningful guidance,” he said.
“The final 2025-26 outcome remains heavily exposed to adverse external developments, including the risk of tariff wars, macro-economic shocks, conflict escalation in Ukraine and the Middle East and European air traffic control mismanagement/short staffing.”
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Passenger numbers grew to a record 200 million on the back of cheaper fares, hitting a target that had been reduced due to delays in delivering new Boeing planes.
The US manufacturer has struggled with increased regulatory oversight after a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight in January last year. Strike action by staff had added to the delays.
The forecast for passenger numbers has been reduced again. Ryanair now aims to transport 206 million passengers in this financial year.
It hopes to reach 300 million passengers by 2034 and on Monday said it still expects to receive 300 new Boeing planes by 2033.
