Virus Sends Ireland's Ryanair Into 1.0 Bn-euro Annual Loss

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2021 ) :Ryanair suffered an annual net loss of 1.0 billion Euros as the coronavirus pandemic grounded the global aviation sector, the Irish no-frills carrier announced on Monday.

The earnings for 12 months to the end of March compared with profit after tax totalling 649 million euros in 2019/20.

Stripping out fluctuations to oil and foreign exchange prices, the loss after tax came in at 815 million euros.

Annual revenue meanwhile slumped 81 percent to 1.64 billion euros.

Ryanair described the year as "the most challenging" in its 35-year history.

Passenger traffic dived 81 percent to 27.5 million from 149 million.

"As we look beyond the Covid-19 crisis, and the successful completion of vaccination roll outs, the Ryanair Group expects to have a much improved cost base and a very strong balance sheet," the airline said.

"The group expects to benefit from a strong rebound of pent up travel demand through the second half of 2021, and looks forward to returning to pre-Covid growth in summer 2022." Ryanair expects traffic for its current year to be towards the lower end of a previously-forecast 80 million-120 million passenger range.

The virus outbreak has ravaged the global aviation sector, sparking heavy losses, job cuts, bankruptcies and state rescue plans.

Ryanair had decided to cut 3,000 pilot and cabin crew jobs, or 15 percent of staff, mirroring moves by airlines globally to save cash in the face of collapsing demand.