Ryanair has reported a 13pc in profit after tax to a record €569m for the year to the end of March further to opening seven new bases and 217 new routes.
The new bases are in Chania (Greece), Eindhoven (Netherlands), Fez (Morocco), Krakow (Poland), Maastricht (Netherlands), Marrakech (Morocco) and Zadar (Croatia).
Revenues rose 13pc to €4.88bn as traffic grew 5pc to 79.3m passengers for the year.
“Delivering a 13pc increase in profits and 5pc traffic growth despite high oil prices during a European recession is testimony to the strength of Ryanair’s ultra-low cost model,” said Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary.
“Fuel costs rose by over €290m, and now represent 45pc of total costs. Excluding fuel, unit costs were up 3pc due to excessive and unjustified increases in Italian ATC, Eurocontrol and Spanish airport fees. Ancillary revenues outpaced traffic growth, rising 20pc to €1bn or 22pc of total revenue.”
Ryanair continues to expand, making meaningful share gains in many of Europe’s largest markets, he added.
“In addition to being the No 1 passenger airline in Ireland, and Spain, we have in the last 12 months overtaken Alitalia and LOT to become Italy’s and Poland’s No 1 airline, respectively.
“Ryanair believes that its unique low cost advantage will enable the airline to achieve a 20pc share of the European short-haul market over the next five years, particularly given that many of Europe’s high fare incumbents are restructuring and cutting capacity.”
