‘It's all very well emoting about the Palestinians, but where is the legislation abolishing the cap at the airport?' – Michael O'Leary blasts ministers

Irish Independent

19-05-2025

Ryanair passenger numbers exceed 200 million for the first time, but profits drop
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has warned that temporary measures to relieve the operation of the Dublin Airport passenger cap are only in place for the coming summer and winter seasons, and he says Government has done nothing to ensure long-term access despite promises.
"The Government has been in place for five months with a 20-seat majority and nothing has been done, despite election commitments, to sort this out. It's all very well emoting about the Palestinians, but where is the legislation abolishing the cap at the airport?' he said.
That cap, a planning condition imposed by Fingal County Council, restricts the number of passengers using the airport to 32 million a year.
Mr O'Leary said the impact of the cap, which was in force when schedules for the winter just gone were drawn up, is likely to have played a role in a decline in overseas visitor numbers to Ireland that has been reported by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the early months of 2025.
The courts have fixed the short-term impact of the cap after legal actions taken by airlines but that is only short term, Mr O'Leary said.
The Programme for Government included a commitment to removing the passenger cap and Mr O'Leary said he had met Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien, 'who talks the talk' on the issue but has yet to act.
There are likely to be 36 million passengers through the airport this year, but as things stand that will have to be cut back in 2026 unless action is taken to change or scrap the cap.
US airlines in particular will need certainty well in advance on whether they can land passengers in Dublin Airport, he said.
Mr O'Leary said there are signs that Canadian passengers in particular are looking to Europe this year and Europeans are avoiding the US amid a perception that the new Trump administration is unwelcoming for international travellers
He was commenting after Ryanair reported a full-year profit after tax of €1.61bn for the 12 months to the end of March 2025, down from €1.92bn in the previous year.
The Irish-headquartered airline flew more than 200 million passengers in its latest 2025 financial year, a record not just for Ryanair but for any European carrier. However, fares were 7pc than in 2024.
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Revenue of €13.95bn was up 4pc but operating costs rose 9pc to €12.39bn.
Ryanair said its cost per passenger was flat and that its cost gap over competitor EU airlines widened, as fuel hedge savings offset higher staff and other costs linked in part to repeated Boeing delivery delays.
Mr O'Leary said lower fares in the year had stimulated demand.
'The absence of a full Easter in Q1, consumer spending pressure and a big drop off in online travel agent bookings prior to summer '24 necessitated repeated price stimulation last year,' he said.
To date, Ryanair said summer 2025 demand is strong, with peak fares trending modestly ahead of last year.
"With limited visibility, we currently expect Q2 pricing to recover some of the 7pc decline we experienced in prior year Q2. The final H1 (first half) outcome is, however, heavily dependent on close-in bookings and peak summer yields. As is normal at this time of year, we have zero H2 visibility,' Ryanair said.
'While we cautiously expect to recover most, but not all of last year's 7pc fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth in FY26, it is far too early to provide any meaningful guidance.'
Delays in delivery of new B737-8200 'gamechangers' from Boeing are now a long-running issue.
Ryanair now has 181 of the new, more efficient planes in its 618 aircraft fleet, out of a 210-plane order book.
Delays at Boeing have meant deliveries have been slow and unpredictable. That will restrict growth this year to just 3pc (206 million passengers), Ryanair said.
"We are working closely with Boeing to accelerate deliveries and are increasingly confident that the remaining 29 'gamechangers' in our 210 orderbook will deliver well ahead of summer '26, enabling us to catch up delayed traffic growth into full year 2027,' the airline said.
Deliveries from a further order of 300 of Boeing's MAX-10 aircraft are expected to start in spring 2027 and be completed by March 2034, when it is targeting growth to 300 million passengers.
Ryanair says rival European airlines are also seeing their capacity constrained, including many that rely on Airbus, which has its own delays in terms of aircraft deliveries.
Meanwhile, for investors, the Irish airline has ended a temporary restriction on non-EU investors buying ordinary shares, that had been in place in order to ensure it met the 50pc threshold of EU ownership, required as a European airline.
'Once the 50pc threshold was reached, the board, taking into account positive feedback from regulators and investors resolved in March that it was in the best interest of Ryanair and our shareholders as a whole to discontinue the prohibition on non-EU nationals acquiring ordinary shares with immediate effect,' Ryanair said.
Voting restrictions do continue to apply to non-EU national shareholders but EU and non-EU nationals can now invest in Ryanair Holdings via ordinary shares listed on Euronext Dublin and/or depository shares listed on the Nasdaq in New York.
Meanwhile, long-time director and former Ryanair executive Howard Millar will not seek re-election at the upcoming Ryanair AGM and will step down from the board in September.
Mr Millar was Ryanair's CFO from 1992 to 2014, and has been a non-executive director for the last nine years.