Covid-19 remained. Ryanair carried 39.1 million passengers in the six months to the end of September – 54 per cent fewer than in the same period of 2019.
The company said it was confident its investment in more environmentally-friendly fleet would cut its costs and enable lower fares.
Despite the current losses, Mr O’Leary expressed that the pandemic created long-term growth opportunities and predicts that the airline will fly 225 million passengers a year by 2026, up from 200 million previously forecast.
