2nd Oct 2020 08:42
(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Friday said Covid-19 travel restrictions across Europe and the UK led to a 64% year-on-year drop in September traffic and a significant reduction in its flying schedule.
The Irish budget airline carried just 5.1 million passengers in September, down 64% from 14.1 million a year ago. On a rolling annual basis, September passenger numbers were down 47% to 79.9 million.
Ryanair operated 53% of its normal September schedule with a 71% load factor.
Airlines around the world have been hammered by the Covid-19 pandemic, with carriers forced to cut jobs and flight operations amid travel restriction and sharply reduced demand.
Earlier in September, Ryanair had slashed its October capacity by a further 20%, on top of the 20% cut that was already announced previously. The capacity reduction was blamed upon frequent changes in government travel restrictions and policies.
On Thursday, Turkey and Poland were removed by the UK government from the quarantine exemption, leaving few holiday destinations on the list of air bridges.
Ryanair predicted its capacity for October will fall to 40% of levels seen the same month the year before from 50%. It expects to maintain a load factor of more than 70%.
In a effort to win back customers, Ryanair launched a "buy one, get one free" offer in September.
Customers who book a flight before midnight on September 24 for travel up to December 14 on selected routes will get a second ticket at no extra charge, the company had announced.
Shares in Ryanair were down 1.0% at EUR11.44 each in London on Friday morning. Year-to-date the stock is down 22%.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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