Budget airline rakes in the cash

 

Ryanair is the European budget airline that a lot of people love to hate.

They dislike the fact that you pay extra for almost everything other than your seat. They hate the fact that Ryanair enforces luggage limits, and will gouge you at every opportunity.

That said, Ryanair is laughing all the way to the bank.

The airline this week reported a big jump in first-half year profits by more than 40% to €2.54 billion, travel news hub Travel Mole reported.

It cited a strong Easter period and saw passenger traffic grew 3% to a record 119 million people.

Revenues over the first six months of the year were up 13% to €9.82 billion

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary, said: “Fares benefitted from having the full Easter holiday in Q1 and we achieved a full recovery of the 7% fare decline we suffered in last year's Q2.

"Ancillary revenue was solid, rising 6% to €2.91 billion.”

The airline said operating costs rose 4% to €6.96 billion.

Ryanair now has 204 Boeing 737 Max aircraft in its 641-strong fleet.