Heathrow and Ryanair reveal further huge losses / Ryanair regista perdas de 47% no primeiro trimestre fiscal

Heathrow and Ryanair reveal further huge losses

Coverage By

Richard Reeves

https://qnewscrunch.com/travel/heathrow-and-ryanair-reveal-further-huge-losses/

 

Two giant aviation firms have announced further huge losses as Covid-related restrictions continue to stifle international air travel.

 

Heathrow, formerly the busiest airport in Europe, lost £348m during the first six months of 2021. Passenger numbers are expected to be even lower overall this year than they were in 2020.

 

Passenger traffic was around one-10th of the comparable spell in 2019. During the course of this year, the airport expects to handle 21.5 million passengers. This represents a 73 per cent decline compared with 2019, and representing a 3 per cent fall on last year – when January and February traffic levels performed well.

 

Heathrow’s prediction assumes “the expected gradual addition of countries to the UK government’s ‘green list’ over the balance of the year”.

 

The airport said the UK government’s decision not to recognise foreign-administered vaccines for the purposes of avoiding quarantine was partly responsible for Heathrow slipping further behind European rivals.

 

While travellers who have been vaccinated in the UK by the NHS need not self-isolate on return from more than 150 “amber list” countries, all other passengers from those nations must quarantine.

 

“Britain is losing out on tourism income and trade with key economic partners like the EU and US because ministers continue to restrict travel for passengers fully vaccinated outside the UK,” the airport said in its statement.

 

Europe’s biggest budget airline, Ryanair, lost an average of €3m (£2.6m) each day between April and June. This was even higher than the same quarter in 2020, when traffic collapsed altogether.

 

 

In that spell, Ryanair flew only 500,000 passengers – compared with 8.1 million over the same quarter in 2021.

 

The average loss per passenger was £29 between April and June 2021.

 

“Bookings were close-in and at low fares,” said the chief executive of Ryanair’s holding company, Michael O’Leary. He blamed “significant uncertainty around travel ‘green lists’ (particularly in the UK) and extreme government caution in Ireland” for the continuing losses.

 

“Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc on our business during Q1 with most Easter flights cancelled and a slower than expected easing of EU government travel restrictions into May and June,” he said.

 

The proportion of seats on each flight sold, known as load factor, rose from 61 to 73 per cent. The usual average is in the low nineties.

 

Ryanair has recruited additional cabin crew to try to take advantage of the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the summer, though average summer fares are lower than pre-pandemic levels.

 

The airline introduced the Boeing 737 Max – for which Ryanair has a special high-capacity variant – and said feedback from passengers was “resoundingly positive”.

Ryanair regista perdas de 47% no primeiro trimestre fiscal

 

A Ryanair perdeu 272,6 milhões de euros entre abril e junho

 

JN/Agências

Hoje às 09:26

https://www.jn.pt/economia/ryanair-regista-perdas-de-47-no-primeiro-trimestre-fiscal-13974398.html?fbclid=IwAR19tLboeocfAnm8vUc1BV6UkRzRU9R1qsGQzDUfuk50Xh8CEljhyBXveSo

 

A companhia aérea irlandesa de baixo custo Ryanair perdeu 272,6 milhões de euros no primeiro trimestre fiscal (abril-junho), mais 47% do que em igual período no ano passado.

 

A empresa com sede em Dublin indicou esta segunda-feira que a pandemia de covid-19 continua a "causar estragos" no setor apesar de as vacinas e a introdução de certificados digitais na União Europeia terem impulsionado "com força" as reservas para o verão.

 

Através de um comunicado, a Ryanair assinala que o trânsito de passageiros aumentou 7,6% no primeiro trimestre, relativamente a 2020, até aos 8,1 milhões de euros elevando a faturação a 196%.

 

A Ryanair refere também que registou melhorias no índice de ocupação (medição do número de lugares ocupados em cada voo) passando de 61% para 73% tendo verificado um aumento de 116% nos custos operativos, até aos 675 milhões de euros.

 

"A (pandemia) de covid-19 continuou a causar estragos no nosso negócio durante o primeiro trimestre. A maior parte dos voos foram cancelados durante a Semana Santa porque o levantamento das restrições por parte do governo na União Europeia foi mais lenta do que o previsto", explicou ainda nota de Michael O'Leary, da Ryanair.

 

De acordo com O'Learey "ainda existe grande incerteza" no setor mas acrescentou que se a "pandemia não provocar mais contratempos" e caso se mantenha o ritmo atual de reservas a companhia pode vir a transportar quase nove milhões de clientes entre julho e 10 de agosto.

 

Neste contexto, a Ryanair que lidera na Europa a venda de voos de baixo custo, anunciou em junho que prevê contratar mais dois mil pilotos "na reativação do setor".

 

Desta forma, a Ryanair confirmou esta segunda-feira o envio de um pedido para 12 novos aviões Boeing 737-8200 "Gamechanger" em agosto, depois de ter recebido um primeiro lote de aparelhos em junho.