Investment accounts
Adult accounts
Child accounts
Choosing Fidelity
Choosing Fidelity
Why invest with us Current offers Fees and charges Open an account Transfer investments
Financial advice & support
Fidelity’s Services
Fidelity’s Services
Financial advice Retirement Wealth Management Investor Centre (London) Bereavement
Guidance and tools
Guidance and tools
Choosing investments Choosing accounts ISA calculator Retirement calculators
Share dealing
Choose your shares
Tools and information
Tools and information
Share prices and markets Chart and compare shares Stock market news Shareholder perks IPOs and placings
Pensions & retirement
Pensions, tax & tools
Saving for retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Speak to a specialist Creating a retirement plan Taking tax-free cash Pension drawdown Annuities Investing in retirement Investment Pathways
Ryanair traffic jumps 9% in December; flights removed from OTAs
(Sharecast News) - Budget airline Ryanair reported a 9% jump in December passenger numbers on Wednesday as it cautioned that the removal of its flights from online travel agents will dent short-term load factors and soften short-term yields. The budget airline said traffic rose to 12.54 million from 11.52m in the same month a year earlier, while the load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - ticked down to 91% from 92%.
On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers rose 13% to 181.8m and the load factor increased to 94% from 92%.
Ryanair said it operated more than 72,500 flights in December but over 900 flights were cancelled due to Israel/Gaza conflict.
The airline also noted that early last month, OTAs such as Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak suddenly removed its flights from sale on their websites.
The "welcome" removal may be the result of pressure from Consumer Protection Agencies or a response to the recent Irish High Court ruling, which granted Ryanair a permanent injunction against screenscraper Flightbox from unlawfully scraping Ryanair.com content for OTAs, the company said. It could also be in response to Ryanair's 'Know Your Passenger' customer initiatives such as verification, it added.
Ryanair said that while these OTAs only account for a small fraction of its bookings, it expects the move to reduce short term load factors by 1% or 2% in December and January and also to soften short term yields as it responds by making more low fares available directly to consumers.
The airline does not expect the removal to materially affect its FY24 traffic or profit after tax guidance.
"Ryanair will respond to this welcome removal of our flights from OTA Pirate websites, by lowering fares where necessary to encourage all passengers to book directly on Ryanair.com where they are guaranteed to always get the lowest air fares without OTA Pirate overcharges, fake contact info, or other pricing/refund scams," it said.
"In the meantime, Ryanair continues to make its fares available to honest/transparent OTAs such as Google Flights, who do not add hidden mark ups to Ryanair prices and who direct passengers to make their bookings directly on the Ryanair.com website."
Share this article
Related Sharecast Articles
Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Award-winning online share dealing
Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.
Expert insights into investing your money
Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.
Policies and important information
Accessibility | Conflicts of interest statement | Consumer Duty Target Market | Consumer Duty Value Assessment Statement | Cookie policy | Diversity and Inclusion | Doing Business with Fidelity | Fidelity gender pay report | Investing in Fidelity funds | Legal information | Modern slavery | Mutual respect policy | Privacy statement | Remuneration policy | Security | Statutory and Regulatory disclosures | Whistleblowing policy
Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.