From today's ATWonline - looks like MO'L isn't too concerned about the present situation and seems very upbeat about the prospects for low cost operators. For what it's worth, I reckon he's spot on.
Ryanair said it is maintaining its earnings forecasts for both the current quarter and the full year to March 30. "While we remain cautious about the trading environment, we see no reason--at this time--to change the consensus range of analyst estimates for either the current quarter or this fiscal year," CEO Michael O'Leary said in a statement. "The immediate impact of last week's events upon Ryanair were limited," he added, saying the airline had cancelled only 16 of 1,800 flights over the past seven days. He said bookings overall last week were down only 10% despite a fall of 20% Wednesday and Thursday in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the US. "Bookings have returned to normal levels and we would expect to recover last week's slippage over coming days with a number of seat promotions which we have planned," he said. Regarding the prospect of financial aid to a number of European flag carriers, O'Leary remained as combative and opposed as ever. "State aid to selected state airlines that were loss-making before last week's events cannot be justified by the impact of last week's events," he stated. He also confirmed Ryanair had written to the European Commission urging it not to alter its policy on state aid to flag carriers. If assistance is considered, "it should be applied equally to all airlines and all passengers by means of reducing passenger taxes or landing and passenger charges at European airports, rather than straight subsidies to inefficient and loss-making airlines," he said.