Ryanair Profits Surge After Hiking Fares By 20%

No-frills airline Ryanair has reported a strong rise in full-year profits after raising its fares by more than a fifth, BBC News reported.

Ryanair, which has been hampered in its expansion plans by delays to the delivery of new Boeing planes, said it could carry 200 million customers this year if the new aircraft are delivered on schedule. I Photo: Ryanair Corporate

However, the carrier hinted that fare increases were easing, with peak summer prices set to be only "modestly ahead" of last year.

Profits for the year to March jumped 34% to €1.92 billion (£1.64 billion) despite a sharp rise in fuel costs.

Ryanair, which has been hampered in its expansion plans by delays to the delivery of new Boeing planes, said it could carry 200 million customers this year if the new aircraft are delivered on schedule.

It said there was a risk the deliveries could "slip further," but airline boss Michael O'Leary said he thought this was "unlikely."

However, Ryanair said it would be short of about 23 Boeing 737s that were due to be delivered by the end of July. The carrier said it was continuing to work closely with the aerospace giant to improve quality and increase the pace of deliveries.