The group chief executive of Ryanair has said the airline expects fares to be lower for the remainder of this year.
But Michael O'Leary said that while the company thought at the start of the summer that the drop in prices could be double digit, that is no longer the case.
"We think it will be high single digits," he told RTÉ News at the airline's annual general meeting in Dublin, adding that they are expected to be down somewhere between 5% and 10% for the airline's second quarter, which runs from July to September.
"Too early to say yet because much depends on what the later bookings will be in late September, early October," he added.
Overall, Mr O’Leary said the business continues to grow well with around 200 million passengers forecast to fly with the airline this year.
He acknowledged that shareholder returns have been disappointing though due to the soft pricing this summer.
But he expressed confidence that at some point between now and 2028, the share price would hit €21 for 28 consecutive days, unlocking share options worth around €100m for him.
"If we keep delivering the growth we are delivering now, and fares level out over the coming years, I think will Ryanair will continue to perform extremely well," he said.
Mr O'Leary continued to call for Government action to lift the 32 million a year passenger cap at Dublin airport, which has been reached.
But he said the cap will not cost Ryanair anything as it can move aircraft elsewhere.
However, during the AGM, a small number of protesters gathered outside the venue calling for the cap to remain in place in order to limit the environmental damage caused by aviation.
The group said they had come to deliver a letter to Ryanair chairman, Stan McCarthy, as they want Ryanair to stop aggressively campaigning to lift the passenger cap and increase aviation.
"It is so damaging to our climate, it is causing greenhouse gas emissions, which are going out of control and for the sake of children we are here as parents, grandparents and concerned citizens to demand that Ryanair stop demanding that the cap is lifted," said Angela Deegan, who was among the protesters.
Responding to the protest, Michael O’Leary told reporters the only way to deal with the challenge of climate change is by delivering economic growth, which he said would generate tax to allow governments to implement sustainable aviation policies
New technology and sustainable aviation are the only ways in which traffic and tourism growth can be delivered to what is an island on the periphery of Europe at a much lower environmental cost per passenger, he claimed.
He said Ryanair's growth over the next decade would be delivered on aircraft that use 20% less fuel and carry 20% more passengers.
Meanwhile, Mr O'Leary said Ryanair is not concerned about the possibility of strike action at Boeing, the manufacturer of the aircraft it uses in its fleet.
He said he would be hopeful that the proposed 25% increase in pay would be accepted by the Boeing workforce and that the company would get on with eliminating the back log in delivery production.
He added that five aircraft were delivered to Ryanair in September and it expects another three in October.
The big challenge, he said, is that the airline is supposed to get 50 aircraft by April 2025 in time for that summer, but it now thinks it will only get between 40 and 45.
"The big challenge is will they get the Max 800 certified in time for our first delivery in Spring of 2027? We hope so," he said.
If they do not arrive, the airline's growth will be a little slower, he added.
Regarding his recent call for airports to limit the number of alcoholic drinks sold to passengers to two, in order to deal with growing levels of unruly behaviour on flights operated by all airlines, he said it was not an unreasonable proposal.
"And if it is put back to us, why don’t we limit the amount of alcohol on board the aircraft, the answer is, we already do," he said.
"But if you want us to limit - nobody on board the aircraft can have no more than two alcoholic drinks - no issue, very few people buy more than two alcoholic drinks on board," he stated.
"All we are looking for is some sort of common sense," he added.
Regarding his own future at the company, Mr O’Leary said he is contracted out until 2028, and unless the board wants to fire him, he is very happy to continue working there.
Asked what he would do with the €13 billion Apple tax windfall, he said he would strongly urge the Government to fix infrastructure, including building a road bridge across Dublin Bay and an outer ring road outside the M50 in order to cope with growing traffic as the population rises.
He added that an infrastructure ministry is needed to deliver infrastructure on time.
In relation to the possibility of Ryanair offering package holidays in the future, the CEO told the AGM that while the idea would be kept under review, it was not something under consideration at present as the airline is focused on growing scheduled flight passenger numbers.
Mr O'Leary also again ruled out the possibility of Ryanair entering the long-haul market.
Ryanair shares were lower in Dublin trade today.
