Ryanair sees annual loss near the middle of forecast range

BRUSSELS, March 31 (Reuters) – Ryanair  expects its loss for the just-ending financial year at around the middle of its forecasted range and is well placed for next year depending on traffic recovery and fares, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Asked on the sidelines of an A4E airlines conference about Ryanair’s loss forecast of 250-450 million euros for the year to March 31, CEO Michael O’Leary told Reuters: “we think we’ll be somewhere in the middle of that range”.

Asked whether the year to end-March 2023 could see a return to pre-pandemic profits around 1.5 billion euros, he said: “There’s a chance but it all depends on pricing. I mean, certainly our costs are reasonably robust for the next 12 months.”