Ryanair Profits Soar 37% On 'Bumper Summer'

The soggy August weather helped Ryanair enjoy a "bumper summer", with half-year profits soaring 37%.

The no-frills carrier reported profit after tax of €1.1bn (£800m) for the six months to 30 September.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said a "very rare confluence of favourable events" helped boost earnings during the period.

Ryanair credited the strong pound and savings on fuel alongside "adverse" weather in northern Europe.

The company said it was the first EU airline to carry 10 million passengers in one month, in July, and said it notched up a 13% rise in traffic during the six-month period.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) claimed millions of customers switched to Ryanair for its Always Getting Better customer experience programme - a result of its decision to improve its image.

Ryanair said it was raising its full year traffic target to 105 million - up 16% on last year's total.

Its statement added: "In the next six months, customers will enjoy further improvements including our personalised website, new cabin crew uniforms, in-flight menus, new Sky (LSE: BSY.L - news) interiors, better seating and defibrillators fitted on all our aircraft."

Looking further ahead, it said it expected its fuel hedging strategy to deliver €430m (£308m) savings in its next financial year.

"We plan to pass on these savings to our customers in the form of lower airfares particularly as we grow capacity quickly in major markets such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK in 2016."