Ryanair posted its biggest ever profit after taxes on Monday for the first half of its financial year, which includes the busy summer months. The company said it hoped to make at least 1 billion euros for the full year.
The Irish airline, which has the most passengers in Europe, said it made $1.36 billion in the six months ending in September.
Analysts polled by the company had predicted 1.385 billion, and the company’s previous first-half record was 1.29 billion euros for the six months ending in September 2017.
Ryanair said that it hoped to make a profit after taxes of between 1 billion and 1.2 billion euros for the year ending March 31.
The company’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said in a statement, “This cautious guidance will depend a lot on not having bad things happen this winter like we did last winter, which were clearly out of our control.”
Wizz Air, IAG (LON:ICAG), which owns British Airways, and Lufthansa have all said in recent weeks that they are seeing continued strength in ticket sales, even though inflation fears are making people nervous.
Ryanair flew a record 95 million passengers in the six months leading up to the end of September. This is because, unlike many airlines, it kept its pilots and crew up to date on their flying hours during the pandemic so it could take advantage of the quick recovery.
It raised its estimate of passengers for its fiscal year from 166.5 million to 168 million. This is a big jump from its previous annual record of 149 million, which was set before the pandemic shut down the travel industry.
($1 = 1.0533 euros)