Ryanair set for net loss as quarantine legal action launches
Ryanair is on course to book a loss to €200-€300m (£179m-£269m) in this financial year, chief Michael O’Leary has told a Spanish newspaper.
Speaking to Expansion, O’Leary added that he expected the budget carrier to return to profitability next year.
He said: “Everything will depend on how people will fly between September and March and that there is no second-wave outbreak”.
For the financial year ending on 31 March, Ryanair made a net profit of €1bn.
From 1 July, the airline will substantially increase its services and operate 1,000 flights a day, with O’Leary insisting that flights would not be cancelled due to the government’s 14-day quarantine measures.
Earlier this week he had told the BBC that currently Ryanair’s bookings for July and August were about half they usually would be.
O’Leary’s words came as Ryanair this morning confirmed it had launched legal action against the UK government over the quarantine plan.
In conjunction with rival carriers Easyjet and British Airways, Ryanair has asked for a judicial review into the blanket ruling to be heard as soon as possible.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the three carriers called on the government to return to its policy of 10 March, which limited quarantine to those passengers from the most high-risk countries.
It also said that the airlines were yet to see any evidence on how and when proposed “air bridges” between the UK and other countries will be implemented.
The carriers warned that the measures would have “a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs”.