Ryanair net profit hit by Italy’s competition watchdog fine in the third quarter.

• Ryanair saw pre-tax profits plunge 83% to 24.4 million euros (£21.2 million) as it put aside the provision following a 256 million euro (£222 million) fine in December by Italy’s competition watchdog for allegedly using an “abusive strategy” to hinder third-party travel agencies.
• With the provision stripped out, underlying net profits fell 22% to 115.4 million euros (£100.1 million).
• The regulator claimed in its ruling that the low-cost airline deliberately made it difficult for agencies to buy flights on its website between April 2023 and at least April 2025.
• Ryanair said it was “confident” the “baseless” fine would be overturned on appeal.

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday reported a drop in third-quarter profits as its results were dented by a hefty fine from Italy's competition authority, but lifted its fare growth and traffic outlook for FY26 citing strong demand.

Profit after tax fell 22% from the same period a year earlier to €115m, dented by a €256m fine from AGCM, the Italian Competition Authority, which is under appeal.

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday announced a sharp drop in net profit for its third quarter, weighed down by a hefty fine from Italy’s competition authority.

Profit after tax stood at 30 million euros ($36 million) in the three months to the end of December compared with 149 million euros one year earlier, the Dublin-based carrier said in a statement.

The decline was largely driven by a provision for a more than 255-million-euro fine imposed by the Italian regulator, which said Ryanair abused its dominant position to block travel agencies’ access to its services.

Ryanair confirmed Monday it has appealed the fine, calling it “baseless”. Group revenue jumped nine percent to 3.21 billion euros.

The budget Irish airline flew 47.5 million passengers in the third quarter, up 6% year on year, and said it now expects 2025-26 passenger growth of 4% to almost 208 million due to strong demand and earlier than expected Boeing plane deliveries.

• Ryanair said it now expects FY26 traffic to grow 4% to almost 208m passengers due to strong demand and earlier-than-expected Boeing deliveries. It had previously expected growth to 207m passengers.
• The airline said unit costs have performed well and it continues to expect only modest FY26 unit cost inflation as its B-8200 deliveries, fuel hedging and effective cost control help offset increased ATC charges, higher environmental costs and the roll-off of last year's delivery delay compensation.

On the outlook, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said full-year net profit could reach as much as 2.23 billion euros, he said:

“While the fourth quarter doesn’t benefit from Easter, fares are trending ahead of prior year and we now believe full-year fares will exceed the 7% growth previously guided by 1% or 2%.”

“The final… outcome remains exposed to adverse external developments,” in the fourth quarter, he noted in the earnings release.

Ryanair said the final full-year outcome remains exposed to adverse external developments in the fourth quarter, including

"conflict escalation in Ukraine and the Middle East, macroeconomic shocks and any further impact of repeated European ATC strikes and mismanagement".

O’Leary added that he expected full-year traffic to reach almost 208 million passengers, or annual gain of four percent.

The development follows an online spat last week between Mr O’Leary and Elon Musk over whether the tech billionaire’s Starlink internet system could be used to provide wifi on Ryanair flights.

Mr O’Leary said: “Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics.”

The low-cost carrier also announced a 100,000-seat sale for “Elon and any other idiots on X”.

After Mr O’Leary said this was not feasible, Mr Musk called Mr O’Leary an “idiot” and “chimp” and mused on X whether he should buy the airline. Mr O’Leary claimed the “PR spat” had driven a 2% to 3% increase in sales.