Ryanair slashes losses but Omicron hit winter bookings

LONDON: Ryanair slashed its losses sharply in final three months of 2021 but the emergence of the Omicron variant cut into the normally busy winter holiday travel season, the low-cost airline said Monday.

Ryanair said its final quarter of the year had started well, with strong bookings as there was “less confusion” about the British government’s “absurd ‘traffic light system’“ to rank Covid risks from countries.

Bookings continued to improve in November but “the sudden emergence of the Omicron variant” and “the media hysteria it generated” forced European governments to re-impose travel restrictions, Ryanair said.

The measures in the run-up to Christmas “significantly weakened peak” Christmas and New Year bookings and fares, it said.

The net losses stood at 96 million euros ($107 million) in the company’s third quarter, a third of the figure for the same period in 2020.