 remains cautious of potential disruptions caused by Brexit. The airline had an){kind=link}
Despite an increase in profits, Ryanair (LON:RYA) remains cautious of potential disruptions caused by Brexit.
The airline had an increase of profits of £3 per passenger from this time last year but expects fares to fall by up to 5 percent this summer.
“A huge jump in quarterly profits for Ryanair was not enough to assuage investor fears that the company is at the mercy of the pricing pressures felt across the sector. The push for more bums on seats means fares are coming down,” said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at City firm ETX Capital.
“We are pleased to report this 55 per cent increase to €397m but caution that the outcome is distorted by the absence of Easter in the prior year.” said chief executive Michael O’Leary in a statement.
The average fare during this quarter increased by 1 percent, although the airline said this was a blip after the stronger trading over Easter.
The holiday fell over April this year, inside Ryanair’s reporting period. Last year it fell in March, affecting the two results.
Regarding Brexit, Ryanair continues to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU “open-skies” agreement, but the airline is worried that “should the UK leave, there may not be sufficient time, or goodwill on both sides, to negotiate a timely replacement bilateral”.
If the UK does not remain part of this deal, Ryanair has warned that it will halt flights from the UK “for weeks or months”.
“Those trips down to Portugal and Spain, unless you can swim, aren’t really going to happen,” said the airline’s finance chief in April.
The open-skies regulation allows all EU airlines and others in the “common travel area” including Iceland, Morocco, Norway and Switzerland to fly in and out of any country signed up to the pact.