Ryanair posted a 55% rise in profit after tax to €397m for the three months to the end of June the second quarter of the year, but the first quarter of its financial year.
That is up 55% on the same period in 2016. Ryanair's Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs said demand for airfare tickets is very strong, with traffic up 12%.
However, he said the figures are distorted because there was no Easter in Q1 of last year, "albeit that’s offset by weaker sterling and lower bag revenue".
On the impact of currency fluctuations, Mr Jacobs said: "About 25% of our revenues are in sterling and about 20% of our costs. We have a natural hedge within the business, but you don’t like to have the extreme movements we have had... I think sterling may be a bit all over the place in the coming months."
On the future regulatory situation with regard to flying between the UK and EU post-Brexit, Mr Jacobs said: "We need a new bilateral agreement as an alternative to Open Skies. We don’t see that yet, even though we’re over a year after the referendum result. We’ll continue our calls on the UK government to give us clarity. We really need to see a new alternative put before Brussels and London and signed."
He added: "If that doesn’t exist, there remains the distinct possibility that we’ll have to not operate flights for a period between the UK and Europe."
The Ryanair CMO said the airline will have contingency plans in place in the event there is no agreement: "We will always be talking to other airports in other markets about increasing capacity there."
