Close to 1,000 Ryanair flights were cancelled in March as conflict in the Middle East continues to hit carriers.
Ryanair operated 77,000 flights over the month but said it was forced to nix 950 of those as a direct consequence of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Violence in the Middle East has caused thousands of flight cancellations and multimillion pound losses at Ryanair and its rivals Wizz and Easyjet since October.
Ryanair has cancelled around 5,430 flights as a result, according to City A.M. analysis, impacting routes at a time when ticket fares are soaring.
Easyjet has forecast a £40m hit in relation to the conflict, while Wizz Air’s chief executive has warned of a potential “ripple effect” on demand in neighbouring countries.
In total, Ranair carried 13.6m guests in March, an eight per cent year-on-year increase and bringing its figure for the year to date to 183.7m. Load factor, the proportion of seats filled, levelled out at 93 per cent.
Shares in the Irish budget airline rose 1.5 per cent to €20.84 this morning, with Peel Hunt analysts noting traffic numbers were “stronger than expected.”
Wizz this morning reported a 12 per cent rise in March passenger numbers as 4.8m flyers used the airline.
Overall, Ryanair is expecting to carry between 198m to 200m passengers over the next financial year, a figure it has revised down due primarily to the impact of Boeing-related delivery delays.
The low-cost carrier will report its annual results on 20 May, where it anticipates post-tax profi of between €1.85bn and €1.95bn for the last 12 months.
Disruption started after the October 7 attacks by Gaza group Hamas, which led to a near-six month military response from Israel. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, while more than 100 Israeli hostages remain in captivity.
Israel’s economy has suffered, shrinking at 20 per cent rate since the start of the war, with tourism especially hit hard. Brands including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Zara have also been targeted for their supposed ties to Israel’s economy.
In response to the war, international travel has been further disrupted by fighting spreading across the region, including to Lebanon and Syria, Egypt and Yemen.