Ryanair returns to profit as fares jump

Budget airline Ryanair has reported its first profit since the pandemic as fares and passenger numbers rebounded.

The carrier's profits hit €1.43bn (£1.24bn) in the year to March, with average fares up by 50% to €41.

However, the airline warned its fuel costs were set to jump in the next year due to high oil prices.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said current fares were "significantly" higher than a year ago, when demand was hit by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Aviation expert John Strickland, from JLS Consulting, told the BBC's Today programme that fares could increase even more, with a family of four seeing costs rise by "another £20 or £30".

However, he said these rises were unlikely to put people off travelling.

"If you talk about, let's say, a 10% increase or even a 15% or 20% increase, we're only talking about a few pounds, maybe five, six, seven in increased costs," he said.

"While that's not nothing, I don't believe that's going to be a showstopper in terms of demand."

Ryanair saw passenger numbers rebound by 74% to 168.6 million last year as the demand for travel continued to recover.

The airline, which is due to operate its biggest ever schedule of flights this summer with 3,000 daily flights, is expecting to take delivery of 300 new Boeing aircraft by 2037.

Mr O'Leary said demand to travel this summer is "robust and peak summer 2023 fares are trending ahead of last year".

Despite the high fuel costs, he said he was "cautiously optimistic" that this would be covered by higher revenues, delivering a "modest year-on-year profit increase".