Ryanair's (RYAAY) Traffic Tanks 91% in March Amid Coronavirus Woes
With the resurgence of coronavirus cases gripping several parts of Europe including the UK, Ireland and some other countries in the EU, it was pretty predictable that the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings’ RYAAY March traffic report will be poor. The fresh wave of the pandemic only worsened the already tepid air-travel demand as a result of the reimposed travel-related restrictions.
The European carrier’s March traffic declined 91% year over year to merely 0.5 million guests. On a rolling-annual basis, total traffic at Ryanair dived 81% to 27.5 million. The carrier’s load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers) in the month was 77% compared with 91% a year ago.
Due to the renewed spike in coronavirus cases induced by the new strains, shares of Ryanair have underperformed its industry’s growth over the past month. While the stock has gained 2.3%, the industry has appreciated 3.4%
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The traffic data apart, Ryanair was in news recently when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reportedly approved the design for the Boeing 737-8200 jets, which are basically a higher-passenger capacity version of the 737-8 MAX.
The clearance of the design was necessary before The Boeing Company BA can start delivering these higher-capacity jets to Ryanair. In December 2020, the carrier announced the placement of a firm order for 75 additional 737 MAX 8200 planes.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Ryanair currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are USA Truck, Inc. USAK and Saia, Inc. SAIA. While USA Truck sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Saia carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of USA Truck and Saia have rallied more than 100% and 73% in the past six months, respectively.
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