Ryanair has reported profits of 211m euro (£185m) for the last three months, nearly triple its profits for the same period pre-Covid.
The budget airline said “pent-up travel demand” over the October half-term and Christmas holidays has led to a bumper quarter.
For the same quarter pre-Covid, it made 88m euro (£77m) and this year it said passenger numbers are 7% higher than before the pandemic, with 38.4m using the airline from October-December.
Ryanair has also announced 230 new routes and said it is expanding in Italy, Poland, Ireland and Spain, while more than 95% of crews have also had their pay cuts restored by agreement, the company added.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said his company has added a further 11 aircraft to its Gamechangers fleet, which has 4% fewer seats and uses 16% less fuel.
He also said that an investment of more than 200m dollars (£161m) will save 1.5% of fuel by retrofitting existing aircraft with scimitar winglets.
