Ryanair Holdings Plc expects to exceed its passenger growth target for the full year as the airline receives aircraft early from Boeing Co and demand for travel remains strong.
The Irish budget carrier predicted more than 3% growth in fiscal 2026 to 207mn passengers, up from a previous forecast of 206mn.
The improved passenger goal is a sign of progress at Boeing, which has struggled to deliver planes on time, limiting growth prospects for Ryanair, its biggest customer in Europe. Ryanair was among the most vocal critics of Boeing as delivery delays forced the carrier to cut its passenger traffic goal several times in the past year.
“It’s humming along nicely, things are going well, quality is very good,” Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said of the Boeing deliveries in an interview.
More recently, Ryanair’s executives have reported progress at the planemaker, saying last month that the carrier received at a more steady tempo.
The remaining six Max 8 aircraft from its order book will be delivered “well ahead” of next summer, allowing for traffic growth to reach 215mn next year, Ryanair said. Certification of the new Max 10 is scheduled for mid-2026 and Boeing expects to meet Ryanair’s contract delivery dates for the first 15 models in spring 2027.
Ryanair would move about 10% of capacity out of the UK and into countries such as Sweden and Italy if the Labour government decides to increase tax this month in the upcoming budget, Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said in an interview on Bloomberg TV following results.
“More capacity, more flights, more aircraft and more jobs will move from the UK,” said the CEO, who has been a vocal critic of governments taxing the aviation industry.
While Ryanair said it’s too early to provide “meaningful” profit guidance for the fiscal full year, the company expects to recover last year’s 7% fare decline in its entirety and achieve “reasonable” profit growth for the year.
At the same time, the company said that while third-quarter forward bookings are “slightly ahead,” fare growth will be more challenging because of difficult comparisons to the prior-year period.
The Irish budget carrier predicted more than 3% growth in fiscal 2026 to 207mn passengers, up from a previous forecast of 206mn.
The improved passenger goal is a sign of progress at Boeing, which has struggled to deliver planes on time, limiting growth prospects for Ryanair, its biggest customer in Europe. Ryanair was among the most vocal critics of Boeing as delivery delays forced the carrier to cut its passenger traffic goal several times in the past year.
“It’s humming along nicely, things are going well, quality is very good,” Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said of the Boeing deliveries in an interview.
More recently, Ryanair’s executives have reported progress at the planemaker, saying last month that the carrier received at a more steady tempo.
The remaining six Max 8 aircraft from its order book will be delivered “well ahead” of next summer, allowing for traffic growth to reach 215mn next year, Ryanair said. Certification of the new Max 10 is scheduled for mid-2026 and Boeing expects to meet Ryanair’s contract delivery dates for the first 15 models in spring 2027.
Ryanair would move about 10% of capacity out of the UK and into countries such as Sweden and Italy if the Labour government decides to increase tax this month in the upcoming budget, Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said in an interview on Bloomberg TV following results.
“More capacity, more flights, more aircraft and more jobs will move from the UK,” said the CEO, who has been a vocal critic of governments taxing the aviation industry.
While Ryanair said it’s too early to provide “meaningful” profit guidance for the fiscal full year, the company expects to recover last year’s 7% fare decline in its entirety and achieve “reasonable” profit growth for the year.
At the same time, the company said that while third-quarter forward bookings are “slightly ahead,” fare growth will be more challenging because of difficult comparisons to the prior-year period.