The airline said that bookings for January to April were slightly ahead of last year and raised passenger growth forecasts AlamyBetter late bookings over the Christmas and new year period than had been expected, and at higher prices, mean that Ryanair’s stalling profits will not be as bad as the discount airline had feared. However, the carrier’s attempt to crack Germany took some of the gloss off the holiday figures, with losses in Europe’s largest aviation market rising during a cut-throat price war with Lufthansa and Easyjet. In an unscheduled trading update, Ryanair said that it expected to carry 154 million passengers in the year to the end of March, a million more than had been estimated previously. Those higher fares mean that Europe’s busiest short-haul airline now expects after-tax profits of about €1 billion. That compares with previous guidance of between €800 million and…

Source: The Times January 11, 2020 00:03 UTC