Ryanair Slashes Flight Schedule After U.K. Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc slashed its schedule for the first quarter, joining rivals in pulling back on flights due to a fresh set of coronavirus-related travel restrictions in the U.K. and other European countries.

Traffic for January will fall to below 1.25 million passengers, then drop to as few as 500,000 for February and March, the Irish discount airline said Thursday in a statement on its website.

Ryanair described the new travel curbs as “draconian,” and said it will be offering few flights from Jan. 21 until they are lifted. The move will pull down traffic for the fiscal year ending in March, though the cutbacks won’t hurt profit because many of the trips would have been loss-making.

Traffic for the year is now seen at between 26 million and 30 million people, versus the earlier outlook for “below 35 million,” the company said. Others have also trimmed back their winter schedules, typically a slow part of the year. Airlines are counting on a seasonal increase in business when the weather becomes warmer, typically starting around Easter.

EasyJet Plc, Britain’s biggest discount carrier, pared back its flying program earlier this week to prioritize essential connections between key U.K. cities and a handful of international routes. British Airways said it’ll keep crucial links open, while TUI AG halted all package holiday tours from the U.K. through mid-February, when the new lockdown is set to end.

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The outlook marks a further reduction from the 149 million passengers Ryanair carried in fiscal 2020. Ryanair had to downgrade expectations throughout the crisis, with estimates issued at the height of the first lockdown in May envisaging as many as 80 million passengers.

Before the pandemic hit the company had targeted a tally of 154 million for fiscal 2021.

Rival discounter Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which has filedfor insolvency protection, separately reported an 81% drop inpassenger numbers for the 2020 calendar year.

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