Ryanair's "bumper summer" delivers 41% operating margin; 2016 target raised. 180 million pax by 2024

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has said that the airline's strong 2Q financial performance was the result of a "bumper summer". Although the major legacy airline groups also reported improved profits for the quarter, Ryanair's operating margin of almost 41% sets it in a class of its own.

Moreover, its improvement was not mainly the result of lower fuel prices: Ryanair managed to increase unit revenue, in spite of double digit passenger growth and in contrast to the legacy airlines. This again demonstrates the success of Ryanair's customer service and network improvements. The airline has now raised its FY2016 traffic and net profit targets, thanks to higher load factors than previously expected.

In spite of the strength of its 2Q results and its positive outlook, Mr O'Leary attempted to inject a note of caution by noting that the revised profit guidance was "heavily dependent" on 4Q bookings, where there is "almost zero visibility". Nevertheless, his underlying confidence in Ryanair's strategic direction was illustrated by an increase in its FY2024 passenger target from 160 million to 180 million, which would represent a more than doubling of traffic over 10 years.