Ryanair is being forced to sell tickets at a discount in the face of lower than expected demand from summer holidaymakers. The budget carrier said that a lack of mid-week bookings was forcing it to resort to special offers in order to fill some flights. The weekend market has been stronger. It came as the company appointed Amber Rudd, a former Tory cabinet minister and leading critic of Brexit, as a non-executive director. Neil Sorahan, chief financial officer, said that the company had launched a wave of  €19.99 (£17) ticket offers as a result. He said: “Bookings for the summer are strong and our load factors are good, but we’re having to run slightly more €19.99 offers than we’d expected to fill some of those midweek flights.” Demand this quarter has been “softer than expected” and pricing in the peak months of July and August will now most likely be “flat to modestly ahead of last summer,” Ryanair said. Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier had earlier predicted a significant jump in fares, spurred by strong demand coupled with constraints on short-haul capacity stemming from the production crisis at Boeing and the recall of large numbers of Airbus jets for engine repairs. Mr Sorahan said...