Ryanair cancels a third of all flights after outbreak of Omikron variant

Ryanair Group’s boss Michael O’Leary is significantly reducing the supply for January 2022 due to a lack of demand. He also expects that the annual loss could be twice as high as last assumed.

The entry and quarantine regulations of various countries, which are tightened again due to the Omikron variant, also have a massive impact on the Irish low-cost airline, which has so far got through better than its competitors.

Whether the routes and frequencies that Michael O’Leary will be cutting in January 2022 will be reactivated in February or March 2022 is still unclear.

Until November 2021, O’Leary assumed that the current financial year could end in the black. He now expects a loss of 250 to 450 million euros by the end of March 2022. The shortfall cannot be estimated more precisely because the further development of entry and quarantine regulations in Europe cannot currently be estimated.

Most of the governments of the EU members have tightened their travel rules significantly. Many tour operators, airlines and hotels are currently being flooded with cancellations. After the Christmas break, most European airlines – including Ryanair – are far from thriving. The booking situation is weak. So it cannot be ruled out that the reduction by one third announced by Ryanair is just the beginning and many more flights could be cancelled.

Competitors such as Wizz Air announced the reduction in production much earlier. And the Lufthansa Group also cancelled one out of ten flights.