Ryanair, the world's largest low-cost airline, has urged the European Union to speed up its COVID-19 mass vaccination program after posting 321 million euros ($389 million) of losses in the third quarter of the 2021 fiscal year
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2021) Ryanair, the world's largest low-cost airline, has urged the European Union to speed up its COVID-19 mass vaccination program after posting 321 million Euros ($389 million) of losses in the third quarter of the 2021 fiscal year.
According to the airline, revenue losses amounted to 306 million euros and an additional 15 million euros in charges for unused fuel hedges was applied, as the COVID-19 pandemic "continues to wreak havoc across the industry."
In the third quarter of the previous fiscal year, Ryanair posted a profit of 88 million euros.
The airline noted the impact of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths seen in many parts of Europe, as new highly infectious variants of the disease spread rapidly. Ryanair urged the EU to begin vaccinating people at the same rate as the United Kingdom.
"We take some comfort from the success of the UK vaccine programme which is on target to vaccinate almost 50% of the UK population (30m) by the end of March. The EU now needs to step up the slow pace of its rollout programme to match the UK's performance," the Ryanair financial report read.
Ryanair pilots and cabin crew agreed to take significant pay cuts this past August in an attempt to save jobs across the company. The airline, which is headquartered in Ireland, flew to upwards of 220 destinations prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.
