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Irish Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ryanair is greenwashing to a comical degree
Ryanair 's leadership team are fond of lashing out statistics while brandishing the airline's carbon footprint virtue. During a recent RTÉ interview, the airline's chief financial officer Neil Sorahan proudly declared that in the year to the end of March, Ryanair flew 200 million passengers, the first time a European airline has achieved that figure. The company also saw revenue rise to almost €14 billion. Those worried about the impact of aviation on climate change need not worry, it appears, because according to Sorahan, Ryanair has 'very aggressive targets between now and 2031' to reduce CO2 per passenger per kilometre. They are making 'great strides' in this area, maintained Sorahan, noting that 'we actually saw our CO2 per passenger per km come down from 67g to 66g'. Given the increase in passenger numbers (up 9 per cent last year), Ryanair's carbon emissions have inevitably risen. Sorahan is not worried about that: 'emissions on an absolute basis are up, but on a passenger basis are down. I think that's the key metric that everybody looks at; what you're burning on a passenger basis.' This is greenwashing to a comical degree. It is patently obvious that airlines, despite their focus on emissions reduction and carbon efficiency targets measured by emissions per passenger per km, will not generate overall reductions in emissions if the number of flights dramatically increases, and Europe's aviation industry plans to double its passenger traffic by 2050. It was estimated in 2022 that European airlines needed to reduce air traffic by at least 2 per cent annually between then and 2040 to be in line with targets to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees. READ MORE Ryanair has been repeatedly challenged on the claims it makes about its green credentials. In April, the European sustainable travel organisation Transport & Environment , published its 2024 airline emissions report , identifying Ryanair as the 'most polluting' European airline, with a 9 per cent growth in CO2 emissions from 2023-24. As reported in this newspaper earlier this week, Ryanair has dropped its 'carbon offset' option for passengers and its carbon calculator for flight emissions as 'there was very little interest or uptake from passengers'. In any case, it is nonsense to suggest that CO2 compensation schemes make flying more sustainable. Given the demand for Ryanair's services, passengers are obviously unworried about their own contribution to climate change disaster. Business and environment academic Peter McManners chose as the title for his 2012 book on aviation and climate change Fly and Be Damned and pointed out, 'the rich world's expectations of flying are so deeply ingrained that, on the route to a sustainable society, aviation policy is the most difficult nut to crack'. [ Ryanair dismisses hundreds of reader baggage experiences as misinformed 'hearsay' Opens in new window ] When he wrote that in 2012, Ryanair passenger numbers were almost 80 million. They are delighted with more than doubling that, and the real 'aggressive targets' are not about reducing emissions; they are about increasing further the passenger numbers. Ryanair titles its 2024 sustainability report 'Aviation with Purpose'. This trumpets its investment in '300 Boeing 737-Max-10″, promising '20 per cent less CO2 emissions' and '21 per cent more seats'. The report is led by the projection of a traffic of 300 million passengers by 2034; this is about 'delivering freedom for the citizens and visitors of Europe to fly'. The constant mantra from the aviation sector about 'sustainability initiatives' hides the reality that such gestures will not offset the carbon emitted due to expanding flight numbers. On the same day that Sorahan was interviewed, so too was Michael O'Leary. His mission? To 'scrap the Dublin Airport cap because we're missing out on a lot of growth'. Dublin Airport Authority's own planning application revealed that the lifting of the cap will increase emissions by 22 per cent by 2031, to which Minister for Energy and Transport Darragh O'Brien recently responded, 'we have got to look at amelioration measures that can be taken . . . it's not a question of giving one sector a pass'. Really? [ We are living in an age of unprecedented greenwashing Opens in new window ] The Government's Climate Action Plan for 2025 notes 'it is widely acknowledged that deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will play the greatest role in decarbonising the aviation sector in the short to medium term'. Why is it not acknowledged that less flying would play a greater role? To cap the farce, it was reported in late March in the Business Post that Ryanair (along with Smurfit Kappa and Aer Lingus) have benefited from free 'pollution permits', worth 'tens of millions of euros' from the UK government under its UK emissions trading scheme, as it seeks to prevent big firms 'moving to countries with laxer climate regulations'. The Business Post suggested Ryanair had received 'permits worth about €286 million since 2021' . O'Leary will no doubt get his way, given the contention of O'Brien that the Dublin Airport cap 'does not serve the State'. Those seeking to promote ever more flying are not serving the State either.
Business Recorder
19-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Ryanair would expect Boeing to honour contract price if EU imposes tariffs
DUBLIN: Ryanair would expect Boeing to honour the agreed prices on current aircraft orders even if the European Union imposes reciprocal tariffs, a senior executive at Europe's largest low-cost carrier said on Monday. 'We've a fixed price with Boeing and our suppliers, and we've been very much of the view if tariffs come to pass … we would expect our suppliers to honour the fixed prices,' Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters in an interview. Ryanair may cut more flights from small Spanish airports, El Economista reports 'If we were to see an increase in our prices, then we'd have to reserve our right to delay, cancel, or buy elsewhere,' said Sorahan, whose airline is one of Boeing's largest customers.
Bloomberg
27-01-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Deepseek Sparks US Tech Concern; Trump to Hold off on Colombia Tariffs
Bloomberg Daybreak Europe is your essential morning viewing to stay ahead. Live from London, we set the agenda for your day, catching you up with overnight markets news from the US and Asia. And we'll tell you what matters for investors in Europe, giving you insight before trading begins. On today's show, Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek rocked global technology stocks Monday, raising questions over America's technological dominance. In geopolitics, in the space of several hours that rattled global markets, US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Colombia before abruptly pulling the threat after reaching a deal on the return of deported migrants. Today's guests: Neil Sorahan, Ryanair CFO and Tommy Ricketts, BeZero CEO and Co-founder. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ryanair trims traffic forecast again on Boeing delays
By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ryanair reported after-tax profit for the three months to the end of December ahead of analyst forecasts on Monday, but Europe's largest low-cost carrier again trimmed its forecast for passenger numbers on Boeing delivery delays. After tax-profit for the third quarter of Ryanair's financial year was 149 million euros ($156 million), well ahead of the 60 million euro profit forecast in a company poll of analysts. That was mainly due to a better-than-expected 1% increase in average fares in the quarter, compared to a fall of 7% during the previous quarter, Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said. Ryanair, which makes most of its profit during its summer season, said it was "cautiously guiding" after-tax profit for the 12 months to March 31 in a range of 1.55 billion euros to 1.61 billion euros ($1.62 billion-$1.68 billion). Ryanair said it expects to take delivery of nine Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ahead of its peak summer season, fewer than expected, and as a result will cut its forecast for passenger numbers in the 12 months to March 31, 2026, to 206 million from 210 million. Sorahan, who recently returned from a trip to Boeing's production facilities in Seattle, said the delays were disappointing but that he had a "strong level of confidence," that the nine aircraft would arrive on time. ($1 = 0.9564 euros) (Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
