Ryanair is slashing its winter schedule to dodge soaring jet fuel costs

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The budget carrier trimmed its fiscal 2027 passenger target by 2 million, saying the move could cut winter losses by up to €100 million

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Ryanair cut its fiscal 2027 traffic target on Wednesday, reducing its passenger goal to 214 million from 216 million to limit its exposure to unhedged jet fuel during the winter season.

The Dublin-based carrier said it planned to hold winter capacity steady relative to the prior year across the November-to-March period, which it characterized as a loss-making stretch. The company said the move could reduce its winter losses by between €70 million and €100 million ($81.2 million).

Jet fuel is trading at around $140 a barrel, the company said. Ryanair has locked in prices for 80% of the fuel it expects to burn through fiscal 2027 at approximately $67 a barrel, with the remaining fifth subject to whatever the market charges. The company said it remains well positioned to record a profitable year, though below fiscal 2026's profit of €2.17 billion, and that it was too early to provide meaningful full-year guidance.

Ryanair warned that less-hedged rivals face a difficult winter. "If high oil prices continue through to summer 2027, Ryanair believes short-haul airfares in Europe will increase materially to reflect higher oil prices, as some less well-hedged competitors will struggle to maintain capacity or even survive this coming winter season," the company said.

Ryanair stock rose 2% on Wednesday.

The airline also disclosed that it carried 22.2 million passengers in August, up 6% against the 21 million recorded in the same month of the previous year. Its load factor held at 96%. The airline operated in excess of 120,500 flights across August, though volcanic activity at Mount Etna forced the cancellation of more than 400 of them. Ryanair said summer-season volumes from April through October were still expected to exceed 5% growth, while fares in the second quarter were running slightly behind the equivalent period last year.

Wednesday's announcement follows a difficult stretch for the carrier. Ryanair reported first-quarter profit after tax of €538 million, down 34% from a year earlier, as the Iran war drove unhedged jet fuel prices above $150 a barrel and prompted travelers to delay bookings. The exposed 20% of fuel that trades at market rates more than doubled in cost during that period. Ryanair stock has lost about 20% of its value since the Iran war began, according to RTÉ.

Before Wednesday's announcement, the carrier had already started scaling back, pulling five aircraft from its Charleroi base in Belgium in July and axing two million seats from its Brussels winter 2026 and summer 2027 schedule, the company said.

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