The past quarter was the toughest yet for Ryanair. But now things are turning around, according to the company, which expects passenger traffic for the full year to decline by "only" 60 percent.

The Irish airline reported a net loss of €185 million, equivalent to approximately SEK 1.9 billion, for the April-June period, the first quarter of the company's financial year. This compares with a profit of €243 million in the same period last year.

Revenue fell by 95 percent to 125 million euros and the number of passengers plummeted by 99 percent – only half a million people flew with Ryanair during the period.

In the interim report, the company writes that the past quarter was the most challenging in Ryanair's 35-year history due to the corona pandemic.

But at the end of June, Ryanair was able to start resuming flights and they are expected to gradually increase over the next few months from 40 percent of normal levels in July to 60 percent in August and – hopefully, the company writes – 70 percent in September. Passenger traffic for the whole year is expected to decrease by 60 percent to 60 million people.

In the report, Ryanair also takes the opportunity to criticize the "illegal state aid" that a number of EU governments have directed at national airlines, including the support for Swedish SAS.

Source: TT