Ryanair has today narrowed the range for its forecast annual loss as passenger numbers topped pre-pandemic levels for the first time ahead of the key Easter holiday period.
Europe's largest low-cost carrier said it now expects a net loss between €350m and €400m for the year to March 31, 2022.
It had previously guided the market to a loss of between €250-450m.
Ryanair group chief executive Michael O'Leary last week pointed to the middle of the range and said that the airline was well placed for the coming year depending on traffic recovery and fares.
Ryanair said it had flown 11.2 million people last month compared to just 0.5 million during lockdown a year ago and 10.9 million in March 2019.
This marked the first time it had carried more passengers in a given month than in the corresponding pre-pandemic period.
That included the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine which caused the cancellation of 2,000 flights and the ongoing suspension of activity in Ukraine, where Ryanair is one of the largest foreign operators.
While full-year traffic topped 97 million passengers, up from 27.5 million in the previous 12 months, it was still well below a pre-pandemic peak of 149 million.
Ahead of the what Michael O'Leary has called the "critical" Easter holiday period, Ryanair's load factor - a measure of how well an airline is filling available seats - nudged up to 87% in March.
This was in line with a forecast made by the CEO in January of almost 90% by April.
The airline also said it had increased its fuel hedging to 80% cover for 2023, with around 65% locked-in at $630 per metric tonne through jet swaps - a hedging tool - and 15% caps at $775.
Ryanair had previously hedged 80% of its needs for the first half of 2023 and 70% for the second half.
Almost 10% of its fuel requirements for the first half of its 2024 financial year are hedged at $760 per metric tonne, it added.
The expected annual loss would be an improvement on the €815m after-tax loss recorded in 2021.
Low cost rival EasyJet said today it had cancelled some flights to and from Britain after a new Covid-19 surge left it short of staff.
