Ryanair has benefitted from a "bumper summer" in travel, as first half profits rose by 37 per cent to €1.01 billion.
Revenue rose by 14 per cent to €4 billion in the six months to the end of September, while traffic grew to 58 million, a 13 per cent increase. Load factor was at 93 per cent, which allowed prices to increase by 2 per cent.
The airline also reaped the rewards from a dip in fuel prices as costs over in H1 fell by 6 per cent compared to the same period in 2014.
Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary said the company was "pleased" with the first-half results, as reported in the Irish Times.
"We have enjoyed a bumper summer due to a very rare confluence of favourable events including stronger sterling, adverse weather in northern Europe, reasonably flat industry capacity and further savings on our unhedged fuel, as millions of customers switched to Ryanair for our Always Getting Better (“AGB”) customer experience programme.”
According to reports, Ryanair recorded a once-off gain of €317.5 million for the sale of its 29.8 per cent stake in Aer Lingus to British Airways parent group IAG.
O'Leary predicted that full-year net profits will be "towards the upper end of our € 1,175m to € 1,225m range".
