CFO says Ryanair fleet safe after window nearly pulls passenger from plane

NTSB leads investigation after window failure; airline reports 34% profit drop

Ryanair’s group chief financial officer said Monday that the carrier’s fleet is safe after a 61-year-old passenger was nearly sucked out of a shattered window when an engine failure sent parts smashing the acrylic pane on a flight from Greece to Germany this month, the airline’s first extended public remarks since the incident.

Ljubisa Karović was sucked headfirst after parts hit the window, according to the airline. His wife, Svetlana Grković, held onto his legs and, with the help of two other passengers, pulled him back inside. The Boeing 737, operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air, returned to Thessaloniki, and CFO Neil Sorahan said all passengers and crew disembarked safely.

“Our crew did a phenomenal job and got the aircraft back to Thessaloniki,” Sorahan said. “Everyone bar none walked off the aircraft. It was a great job done by the cabin crew and the pilots.” He said it was “way too early” to discuss whether the airline would compensate the couple while the investigation is ongoing.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said last week it would lead the investigation. “We welcome the appointment of the NTSB,” Sorahan said. “They are going to do a full, independent investigation. We are participating fully. We have people on the ground actively involved in assisting.”

Sorahan said neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has required Ryanair to make any operational changes. “We are very happy with safety across all of our five airlines, they operate at the highest standards of European aviation regulations,” he said. “We have a relatively young fleet and are very pleased with safety and maintenance within Ryanair group.” He described the Boeing 737 as “probably the safest aircraft ever built” and said bookings remain “very strong” heading into the peak summer season despite the re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Ryanair reported on Monday that after-tax profit for the three months ended June fell 34% to €538 million (£457 million). The airline attributed the drop primarily to the price of jet fuel doubling amid the conflict in the Middle East, which raised the cost of the 20% of fuel it had not hedged against price fluctuations. Passenger numbers rose 6% year-on-year to 61.3 million, but average fares fell 6% as the airline offered lower prices to stimulate demand, citing consumer hesitancy, concerns about EU jet fuel shortages, economic uncertainty and later bookings. Operating costs rose 11% to €3.81 billion, while total revenue increased 1% to €4.38 billion.

Sorahan criticized the European Union’s new digital entry-exit system, which requires non-EU citizens to register fingerprints and a photo upon arrival. He said the system has nearly tripled processing times at some of Europe’s most popular airports, calling it “badly implemented.” The airline last week published a list of “hotspot” airports where passengers are facing significant delays, including Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Lanzarote, Alicante, Málaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt Hahn, Kraków and Budapest.

Sorahan warned that a possible sale of rival easyJet, which is the subject of a bidding war, could reduce capacity and trigger a “domino effect” of consolidation in Europe.