Why rivals' capacity expansion could put pressure on Ryanair

But while the peak summer season has, on average, 2 per cent more bookings than this time last year, fares continue to fall. The company said pricing would likely be softer in its first and fourth quarter given neither have included the Easter break, and capacity additions in Europe are higher than in previous years "as hedged competitors enjoy falling oil bills". Bosses expect average fares to fall some 7 per cent this year. This should be mitigated by the fact that its fuel costs are 95 per cent hedged at $62 per barrel in the 2017 financial year - far better than the $90 per barrel hedge in FY2016. Flight cancellations hit 500 in the period thanks to terrorist events in Brussels and strikes on the continent.

Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald expect pre-tax profits of €1.7bn for the year to March 2017, leading to adjusted EPS of 115.8¢, compared with €1.72bn and 115.6¢ in FY2015.