Ryanair said passengers can expect lower fares after it became debt free for the first time since it floated in 1997.
Group CFO, Neil Sorahan, said the Dublin-based airline had paid off its last €1.2 billion bond, consolidating its credit ratings and making it competitive against its rivals.
“Our fortress balance sheet is underpinned by an unencumbered B737 fleet of 620 aircraft, solid ratings (BBB+) from both Fitch Ratings and S&P and strong liquidity,” he said.
“This financial strength further widens the cost gap between Ryanair and our competitors, many of whom are exposed to expensive (long-term) debt and aircraft leases and will enable Ryanair to continue to grow traffic at much lower fares than our competitors, bringing even more value to consumers all over Europe.”
The group raised this last remaining €1.2bn bond during the Covid crisis and he thanked them for their support.
“We look forward to (opportunistically) revisiting the bond markets at some stage in the future as we grow passenger traffic to 300m p.a. by FY34 and take up to 50 Boeing MAX-10 deliveries annually from 2029 onward,” he said.
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