Ryanair now expects to report a pre-exceptional loss for the year to March 31st of between €800 million and €850 million.

The low-cost carrier, which recently laid out bullish plans for summer travel, had previously said it might lose as much as €950 million

The group said full-year traffic was 27.5 million passengers, down from 149 million a year ago, almost entirely due to the spread of Covid-19 cancellations and travel restrictions.

It said in a statement, Ryanair said: “Easter travel restrictions/lockdowns and a delayed traffic recovery into the peak summer 2021 season, due to the slow rollout in the EU of Covid-19 vaccines, means that full-year traffic is likely to be towards the lower end of our previously guided range of 80 million to 120 million passengers.

“While it is not possible (at this time) to provide meaningful full year 2022 profit guidance, we do not share the recent optimism of certain analysts as we believe that the outcome for 2022 is currently close to breakeven.”

Ryanair said it would offer more detail in a market update on May 17th.

The carrier operated about five per cent of its normal March schedule, with a 77 per cent load factor.