Last week, Ryanair unveiled its extended winter schedule. Airline chief executive O'Leary warns that inflation in the consumer segment — it's “nothing compared to the energy price shocks this coming winter.”
Those who aren't worried about a looming recession and energy crisis — crazy. Nevertheless, people will not stop flying.
“Many people have to fly for work, get to weddings or funerals, and in a recession everyone becomes much more price sensitive. Probably the total number of travelers will decrease, but those who stay will undoubtedly turn to the carrier with the lowest fare — and this is us. The question is not whether people can afford to fly, but whether people can afford to fly with British Airways or Lufthansa?», — concluded O'Leary.
“The market as a whole will struggle. Commercial aviation in 2023 and 2024, alas, will not return to pre-pandemic levels. The recession will significantly weaken and slow down the overall recovery of passenger traffic. The return to normal operations will be very slow.”
“Every time a recession hits, Ryanair grows faster. This is not the first such year for us, already the fourth or fifth. We will become stronger, as we have been during any other recession.
“We will grow as we are the lowest cost airline and we have brand new, fuel efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft. We are very well insured against rising fuel prices, we will be even more efficient — such a market is good for us.”
Ryanair has launched its biggest ever winter schedule, adding 21 new routes from 21 UK airports to its network.
In the winter of 2022/2023, the low-cost carrier will offer 440 destinations, including new “winter” destinations cities such as Asturias, Catania, Klagenfurt, Leipzig and Rovaniemi in Lapland.
Other novelties include:
Liverpool – Rome;
Newcastle – Barcelona and Cork;
Bournemouth – Lanzarote and Venice;
Edinburgh – Grenoble and Verona;
Manchester – Klagenfurt, Podgorica and Turin;
and six from Birmingham – Billund, Grenoble, Santander, Stockholm, Toulouse and Venice.