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Bloomberg
Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said the Irish carrier could almost double its passenger capacity through the rest of the summer as the European Union reopens for travel.
Europe’s biggest discount airline expects to attract up to 9 million passengers in July and August compared with
5 million in June and just 1.7 million in May, O’Leary told Bloomberg Television.
“We’re seeing a very strong recovery in bookings, German leisure, Benelux leisure, Scandinavian leisure, heading to the beaches of Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy,†O’Leary said.
Demand has been spurred as the EU rolled out its Digital Covid Certificate from July 1, allowing travelers to move between member states provided they are fully vaccinated, have recovered from the virus or can show a negative test result. The reopening marks a step toward securing vital summer revenue after a series of false starts amid the spread of new viral variants.
Still, only about 50% of available seats have been booked for July and 30% for August, compared with up to 70% normally, putting the focus on luring back passengers to maximise sales and leading fares to be cut, O’Leary said.