Irish Ryanair airline suffered a loss of EUR 321 million in the last quarter of last year. In addition to a loss of EUR 306 million, a direct result of the coronacrisis, the airline also lost EUR 15 million to write off fuel contracts.

The loss of Ryanair is not on its own. Airlines worldwide are under severe strain due to virus anxiety, travel restrictions and other measures to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Ryanair also landed a large part of its fleet during the important end of the year. Planes that did fly were also less crowded. The number of passengers declined by 78% to 8.1 million passengers per year.

Total turnover in the final quarter of 2020, the third quarter of Ryanair’s financial year, decreased by 82% to EUR 340 million. In the same period a year earlier, before the crisis, Ryanair put a turnover of EUR 1.9 billion in the books. In addition, there was a profit of 88 million euros.

For the whole financial year, Ryanair expects a loss of EUR 950 million. The company will have carried between 26 million and 30 million passengers. That is less than the 35 million previously taken into account. This is mainly due to even stricter measures taken in several European countries.

According to Ryanair, the situation remains uncertain in the near future. The company hopes for a gradual recovery in demand, depending on the rate of vaccinations. In the largest market in the United Kingdom, this is a little faster than in the European Union.