Ryanair reports full-year profit up 13%, cuts traffic for coming year

​Ryanair has reported a profit after tax of €1 billion for the year to March 31, but said it was unable to provide a forecast for the current year due to Covid-19 and cut its annual passenger traffic target by a further 20%. 

The airline said it expects to fly "somewhere under" 80 million passengers in the coming year.  This is down from a target of 100 million given last week and from an original target of 154 million.

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​Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary admitted it was essentially guesswork at this stage. 

"For the next 12 months it's obviously impossible for us to today to give you any guidance on either traffic numbers or on profits," Michael O'Leary said in a video presentation. 

"We have no idea because it is entirely subject to passenger numbers, yields and the lifting of government restrictions," he added.

Ryanair also warned it will look at pulling out of some airports across Europe. Michael O'Leary said the airline would first look at loss-making bases in the UK, Germany and Spain for closure, but may then look at Italy, Belgium and central and eastern Europe if necessary. 

Ryanair is currently undertaking a major cost cutting drive, with 3,000 pilots and cabin crew likely to lose their jobs as well as 250 people at head offices in Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw. 

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