HAPPY TALK: Do not believe what you read

Ryanair’s April Traffic Grows 17%

That was the figure splashed across the press release.

Journalists and city followers of Michael O’Leary have long been accustomed to scrutinising the small print for the truth and in this case have come up trumps.  The Ryanair April figures include 1.2m passengers the airline did not fly due to the ash problems (and whose fares and “reasonable expenses” were returned).  Ryanair actually carried a very respectable 5m passengers at an unknown load factor but not the 6.2m or the 67.4m suggested for the full year.

However at the average fare of €30 quoted by Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara this translates to €360m in April alone, plus ancillary costs.  On Tuesday (1 June) Ryanair announces their full year profits until the end of March, which are expected to be in the €275 range.  Quite what Michael will forecast for 2010/2011 is anyone’s guess.

But read the small print.

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