By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON, (Reuters) –Ryanair Group Chief executive Michael O’Leary stated Wednesday that bookings were very solid for summer. The load factor should slowly rise to 94-95% between June and August. This would be almost equivalent to pre-COVID-19 levels.

O’Leary said that Europe’s largest budget airline would end May with over 15 million passengers. This is up from April’s 14.24 million, and a mere 1.04 million in April 2021. O’Leary predicted that the load factor would rise to 92% by May, from 91% in April.

“Bookings over the last number of weeks have continued to strengthen – both the numbers are strengthening and average fairs being paid through the summer are rising,” he said, highlighting strong bookings to beaches of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Ryanair did not experience any major impact from the recent delays at airports in Stockholm, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. He stated that additional staff would mean no security queues by June-August.

O’Leary spoke out about the European Central Bank’s anticipated rate rises. He said, “certainly within the next twelve months there will not be any impact whatsoever.”

His words were: “We’re likely headed for an economy downturn or recession, but 60% (or 80%) of the population has been working at home the last two years and they have enormous accumulated savings.”

O’Leary stated that Ryanair has “80%” of its fuel requirements covered up to March 2023, at $70 per barrel.

So, at the moment we’re making huge savings. He said that we have an advantage over all other European airlines and can use it now to drive growth.