RYANAIR CUTS PROFIT FORECAST – Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers was removed from booking sites

Ryanair has reported a slump in quarterly profits and narrowed its expectations for annual earnings after some online travel sites stopped selling its flights.

The no-frills carrier said it made profit after tax of €15m (£12.8m) over the final three months of 2023, its third quarter, compared to the €211m it achieved in the same period a year previously. A poll of analysts had expected a figure of €49m.

The sum came in lower despite a 7% rise in passenger numbers and fares being 13% higher.

Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers blamed the decision by some booking sites, including booking.com and Kayak, to remove it from their listings in early December.

Another factor behind the slump in profits was a 35% increase in fuel bills.

Ryanair said it now expected an after-tax profit of between €1.85bn and €1.95bn for the 12 months to the end of March.

That is lower than its previous forecast of just over €2bn at the top of the range.