Ryanair Holdings PLC
20 September 2007
RYANAIR FULL YEAR GUIDANCE UNCHANGED AT AGM
1 MILLION FREE SEATS RELEASED IN OCTOBER
Ryanair, Europe's favourite international airline held its AGM in Dublin this
morning (20th September) and updated shareholders on current trading and recent
developments.
Commenting at the AGM, Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary said:
'Current trading continues to perform as expected, and advance bookings for the
Autumn are in line with our targets. We continue to believe that Winter yields
will be down by between -5% to -10%. Accordingly our full year guidance is
unchanged. We expect passenger volumes to grow by 18% to 50m passengers and
deliver profit growth of +10%, due to the softness in Winter yields, rising fuel
costs, and the doubling of passenger charges at London Stansted, Ryanair's
largest base.
'We have received a second unlawful refusal from the Directors of Aer Lingus to
hold an EGM on Aer Lingus's decision to close its profitable Shannon-Heathrow
route. Ryanair regrets that Aer Lingus is refusing to allow shareholders an
opportunity to discuss the closure of a profitable route at a time when Aer
Lingus's interim profits have collapsed by 58% to just €6m and its share price
has fallen to €2.40, well below Ryanair's offer of €2.80 last year. Since the
Directors of Aer Lingus are willing to repeatedly breach their statutory
obligations towards their largest shareholder, there clearly isn't any influence
that Ryanair can bring to bear on this profitable route closure. Accordingly, we
are considering what legal remedies are available to us.
'Ryanair will further expand its Shannon base due to current strong forward
bookings. Ryanair's services will almost double on Shannon - London from 4 to 7
flights daily with services from Shannon to Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, where
Shannon passengers can connect to more destinations than they presently can from
Heathrow. Ryanair intends to double its Shannon-Paris services to a twice daily
flight next Summer, and Ryanair is now in negotiations with Amsterdam Schiphol
Airport to see if a viable cost base can be agreed to allow a low fare
Shannon-Amsterdam route to be launched. This Winter Ryanair will operate more
than 40 daily flights to/from Shannon, connecting Shannon to 30 European
destinations. If Aer Lingus is determined to abandon Shannon and the West of
Ireland then Ryanair will add more flights and more low fares.
'To demonstrate our ongoing commitment to low fares and our unique lowest fare
guarantee, Ryanair has today released 1 million free seats (passengers only pay
taxes, fees and charges) for travel in the month of October. These fares are
only available until Monday the 24th of September so passengers are strongly
urged to book early on www. ryanair.com to avail of these flights'.
For further information Howard Millar Pauline McAlester
please contact: Ryanair Holdings Plc Murray Consultants
Tel: 353 1 812 1212 Tel: 353 1 498 0300
www.ryanair.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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