Ryanair, the Irish budget airline, reported a 20 percent increase in net profit for its second quarter on Monday, driven by higher ticket prices and strong travel demand across Europe.
According to a company statement issued from Dublin, profit after tax surged to €1.7 billion (£1.45 billion), up from €1.4 billion in the same period last year. Total revenue rose by eight percent to approximately €5.5 billion, reflecting both robust passenger numbers and a significant rise in fares.
The airline projects full-year passenger traffic will grow by more than three percent to reach 207 million, aided by earlier-than-expected deliveries of Boeing aircraft and sustained demand in the first half of the fiscal year. Last year, Ryanair was forced to revise its growth forecast downward due to delays in Boeing plane deliveries.
In the first half of the fiscal year, average fares rose by 13 percent, a boost partly attributed to the favourable timing of the Easter holidays. Ryanair’s outspoken chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said the company now expects to “recover all of last year’s seven-percent full-year fare decline” and foresees “reasonable net profit growth” for the 2026 financial year.
Ryanair has also announced a strategic reshuffle of its winter flight schedule, reallocating capacity towards regions that are reducing aviation taxes and encouraging air traffic growth. These include Sweden, Slovakia, Italy, Albania, and Morocco.
Conversely, the carrier has cut back on operations in “high-cost, uncompetitive markets” such as Germany, Austria, and Spain, where higher airport fees and taxes have weighed on profitability.
With a combination of rising demand, cost discipline, and favourable market conditions, Ryanair appears well positioned to maintain its upward trajectory into the next fiscal year.