Ryanair slashes loss by €91m

Budget carrier Ryanair reduced its Q3 loss in 2009 to €11m, from a €102m loss in the third quarter of 2008.

Between September and December 2009, Ryanair also saw an increase in passengers of 14%, when compared to the same period in 2008.

Despite the increase in passengers, the airline's revenue increased by only 1%.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, said:"Our Q3 loss of €11m is disappointing although better than expected, and a significant improvement on last year's Q3."

Ryanair's unbundling technique is also less fruitful than in the past, said O'Leary. "Ancillary revenues grew by 6%, slower than the growth of passenger volumes due to changes in consumer behaviour."

But O'Leary predicted that Ryanair would increase market share over the next two years, as a result of airline consolidation and airports "vigorously competing against each other to win Ryanair's growth". He predicted a traffic growth of 10% for 2011, to 73m passengers.

"Market conditions remain difficult, although the increasing pace of consolidation and closure amoung our competitors allied to Ryanair's continuing fleet expansion will lead to further market share gains this year, in particular in Italy, Scandinavia, Spain and the UK," said O'Leary.

www.ryanair.com