During this morning’s AGM, Ryanair informed shareholders that it plans to distribute the proceeds (€398m) from the sale of Ryanair’s 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus, via a ‘B’ Share programme which will be concluded before December, subject to EGM approval.
“When completed we will have returned €800m to shareholders this year, and over €3.3bn over the last 7 years, in addition to more than doubling our share price over the last 18 months,” Ryanair Chairman David Bonderman said.
Ryanair also briefed shareholders on progress of its “Always Getting Better” (AGB) customer experience programme, the success of which has prompted the airline to raise credits for growth in its full year traffic forecast to 104m customers (previously 103m), and its profit guidance by 25% to €1.2bn (previously €970m).
“During our 30th year, Ryanair will grow traffic by over 13m to 104m customers,” Bonderman said. “It is clear that consumers all over Europe are delighted by, and switching to our ‘AGB’ customer experience programme, our industry leading punctuality and our unbeatable low fares.”
Ryanair briefed shareholders on further AGB improvements later this year, including new primary airports in Amsterdam, Cologne, and Copenhagen, a new personalised website with advanced features, including a ‘hold the fare’ feature, an improved mobile app, new cabin interiors, crew uniforms and improved inflight menus.
Featured Image: Ryanair Aircraft/Ryanair