Ryanair on Tuesday said half-yearly revenue rose by 7 percent to 4.43 billion euros ($5.15 billion), while profit after tax reached 1.29 billion euros, up 11 percent. The number of passengers carried also grew by 11 percent year-on-year from April to September.
The airline also noted that the cancellation of thousands of flights — an emergency measure due to pilot rostering problems to free up standby pilots to ensure the smooth operation of its 400 planes — could end up costing the budget airline up to 100 million euros in this financial year.
In the weeks after it announced the cancellations, Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers saw 2 billion euros knocked off its market value. But it recovered around half of that loss on Tuesday when the company's shares climbed over 6 percent, after it told investors that bookings were up.
Meanwhile the demise of Air Berlin and Britain's Monarch Airlines are bound to help Ryanair by cutting capacity and freeing up much-needed pilots.
"These strong half-year results reinforce the robust nature of Ryanair's low-fare, pan-European growth model even during a period which suffered a material failure in our pilot rostering function in early September," said chief executive Michael O'Leary.
But O'Leary said the airline remains "concerned at the continuing uncertainty surrounding the terms of the UK's departure from the EU in March 2019."
After a decade in service, the Airbus A380 is still the biggest passenger plane in the skies. But questions keep coming up as to whether the giant has already seen its best days. Is it now a relic of the past?
Image: Airbus The A380 is simply impressive and puts almost every other competitor on the airfield in the shadow — literally. With a length of 72.7 meters (238 feet) the plane has a wingspan of 79.8 meters and is over 24 meters tall. On its two decks, the airline Emirates can accommodate 489 passengers in its three-class extra-wide-room version, and up to 615 passengers in its two-class long-range model.
On April 27, 2005 the first official flight of the giant took place. After 3 hours and 54 minutes in the air, it landed safely. At the time it seemed inconceivable to fly with less than four engines. Since then it has become clear that a mere two turbines are enough to carry such giants — and for significantly less money. Yet developing this technology would likely run into the billions.
Singapore Airlines was the first airline to deploy the A380. Here the proud new owners are shown on the tarmac in Toulouse — gathered together to document the great day. Back then on October 15, 2007, the future of passenger flying was still seen in terms of size: The more passengers transported at once, the more profit for the airline.
The giant passenger jet was also well received by travelers. They weren't bothered that the boarding of so many passengers sometimes took a bit longer. However, the infrastructure of most airports is overwhelmed by the gigantic A380. For this reason, the aircraft flies most frequently between major airports like London, Frankfurt, New York and Singapore.
It's not just competitors like Boeing that make life for Airbus difficult. The company's own structure is demanding and hinders streamlining. Individual components for the aircraft are manufactured in France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, China and the USA. That's why the body of a giant A380 can be seen on a country road once in a while.
Naturally, smaller planes are selling better than mega aircraft like the A380 — here the shell of the first model. Despite this commonly acknowledged fact, declining sales figures are a cause for concern. Last year only 28 A380s were delivered. This year it will be 15. Next year only 12 will leave the workshop. By 2019, Airbus only expects to deliver eight.
Whatever the future of the A380 will actually look like, it is certain that Airbus has just ended a successful era. At the end of this year, the company's chief salesman, John Leahy, will retire. In his 23 years, he had been able to sell 15,500 aircraft for around $1.7 trillion. His successor will be measured by this — sales of more A380s would be helpful in any case.
Airbus isn't the only one worried about mega planes. Its competitor Boeing only builds around six of its jumbo jets a year — and they are used for cargo. Yet the outgoing Airbus salesman John Leahy is nonetheless certain that passenger numbers will double. He sees the problem on the ground and not with the A380, complaining that airports need to be prepared. Maybe the A380 does have a future.
tr/kd (Reuters, dpa)
