LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Low fares airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYA.L, RYAAY) said it cut traffic forecast for the year ended 31 March 2021 to below 30 million passengers from below 35 million passengers, citing the new COVID-19 lock-downs and travel restrictions in the Ireland and UK. It will significantly cut flight schedules from January 21 until travel restrictions in the U.K. and Ireland are removed.
However, the airline does not expect the flight cuts and further traffic reductions will materially affect its net loss for the year to 31 March 2021 since many of those flights would have been loss making.
The airline said it now expects the newly announced COVID-19 lockdowns in Ireland, the UK, and a small number of other EU countries this week, will materially reduce its flight schedules and traffic forecast through January, February and March.
The airline now expects its January traffic to fall to under 1.25 million passengers, and that new Covid restrictions could also reduce February and March traffic to as little as 500,000 passengers each month.
The airline said the new cutbacks will reduce traffic forecasts for the year ended March 31 to between 26 million and 30 million passengers compared to the prior estimation of below 35 million passengers.
Ryanair calls on the Irish and UK Governments to accelerate the slow pace of vaccine rollouts. The airline alleged that vaccination rate in Ireland is 10 times slower than that of Denmark.
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