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Cold December for Ryanair, which lost passengers during the month, after many online flight search sites canceled the carrier. The stock loses share on the stock exchange (-5.6% today), but the company, which defines the sites as “pirate”, rejoices: welcome – it explains – it will have a maximum impact of 2% on the load factor (the filling coefficient of the aircraft), it will encourage people to book directly from the proprietary site and will have no effect on the annual forecasts, confirmed for profits in a range between 1.85-2.05 billion pounds.
The move by aggregators such as Booking, Kayak and Kiwi is unclear, but according to the company it could result from pressure from consumer protection agencies, the Irish High Court ruling against Flightbox or initiatives from Ryanair’s own customers. The budget airline’s announcement is the latest in a long-running feud over the ability of third parties to sell seats on Ryanair flights. Online travel agents have accused Ryanair of abusing its dominant market position by disrupting their services. The airline, meanwhile, says travel agents are overcharging for flights and has encouraged passengers to book directly through the airline. Load factor impacts a flight’s profitability: according to Ryanair in December the load factor it was on average 91% of available places, compared to 92% in the same period in 2022.
In December Ryanair transported 12.54 million passengers, 9% more than in the same month of 2022. This is what a note from the Irish company reports. Ryanair recalls that in December it operated over 72,500 flights and had to cancel over 900 due to the war in Gaza. Over the twelve months of 2023 (+53% performance on the stock exchange), the number of passengers transported grew by 13% to 181.8 million with a load factor of 94% (92% in 2022).
2024-01-03 18:37:57
#Ryanair #kicked #search #platforms
