Ryanair plans to significantly expand flight operations

In an ambitious growth offensive, Ryanair, a heavyweight in the European low-cost sector, aims to increase its passenger numbers to 300 million by the year 2034. This was announced by Michael O'Leary, the CEO of the Irish budget airline, on Tuesday in Vienna. The substantial increase from the current 184 million passengers per year is intended to be achieved by expanding the fleet from 600 to about 800 Boeing series aircraft. However, the entire industry is facing capacity constraints, which are further exacerbated by extensive overhaul work on a specific model of the Airbus A320 engine. According to O'Leary, these challenges lead to an expected general increase in airfares this summer of around ten percent. Ryanair is determined to maintain a high growth rate and points to its existing connections to more than 250 airports in 37 countries. The airline sees particular expansion potential in Morocco, where plans include not only expanding flight offers but also establishing domestic flights. An efficiency that distinguishes Ryanair from its competitors is the consistency in cost per passenger, which has remained stable at 31 euros for years, with a revenue of about 65 euros per passenger. This efficiency challenges the view that Ryanair's cost control is based on lower wages for its employees, compared to competitors with significantly higher passenger costs. Andreas Gruber, the head of Ryanair Austria, emphasizes that payment is both fair and performance-based. For the current fiscal year, ending in March, O'Leary forecasts a profit between 1.85 and 1.95 billion euros – a figure that underscores the financial ambitions of the aviation company.