Ryanair (LON: RYA) stock price gained nearly 4% yesterday despite the budget carrier reporting a 78% plunge in revenues from April to September.
Fundamental analysis: Air travel in Europe will remain ‘subdued’ over the next few years
Ryanair announced its decision today to significantly reduce its flying schedule for the next six months as European countries reintroduce measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Ryanair took a huge blow after the introduction of lockdown measures following the outbreak in March. The flight carrier reported a 78% plunge in revenues during the period from April to September, compared to the year-ago period.
During that period, the number of customers plummeted by 80%, Ryanair said. The company expects a significantly less busy schedule in the future as a result of the latest measures taken across Europe.
The low-cost flight carrier issued the statement only two days after Britain reimposed a nationwide lockdown in England, which will come into effect on November 5. France and Germany already imposed nationwide lockdown last week while other European countries also tightened measures recently to help fight the second wave.
“The WHO (World Health Organization) themselves confirmed that lockdowns should be the last option, lockdowns are essentially a failure,” Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair said.
“If we had a more aggressive test and tracing provision, or as (U.K. Prime Minister) Boris Johnson promised world-class testing and tracing, which clearly we don’t have in the U.K., we could and would have avoided a second lockdown,” he added.
O’Leary pointed out that there will be a core number of essential flights set to take place this winter, but that number is “less than a third of our normal.”
