Ryanair has cut its 2027 traffic target to 214 million passengers from 216 million, citing high unhedged oil prices, while warning sustained fuel costs could push up short-haul airfares.
In light of high unhedged oil prices and with jet fuel currently trading at $140 a barrel, “it is sensible to strategically reduce the group’s exposure to unhedged jet fuel during the unprofitable winter schedule (from Nov to Mar),” the carrier said.
“Ryanair’s FY (full year) traffic target is therefore cut from 216 million to 214 million passengers to reduce our exposure to unhedged oil this winter,” it said.
The airline said it expected this cut to reduce its winter 2026 losses by €70 million to €100 million.
It also warned that if high oil prices continued through to the summer 2027, short-haul airfares would “increase materially” to reflect higher oil prices “as some less well-hedged competitors will struggle to maintain capacity or even survive this winter season”.
The company also produced August passenger numbers, showing it carried 22.2 million passengers during the month, up 6 per cent on the same month last year.
It said it expected traffic from November to March to be broadly flat.