Ryanair has increased its profit guidance by nearly 20 per cent due to an increase in winter bookings.
Ryanair said that its profit after tax for the 12 months to March would be between €750 million and €770 million. This is an 18 per cent increase from a previous forecast of between €620 million and €650 million.
The airline said that in the six months to March, it would carry 2.2 million more passengers than previously forecast. It expects to carry 89 million passengers in the year to March, compared to 82 million in the same period last year. This represents an increase of 8.5 per cent.
Ryanair is also planning to cut its spring fares by up to 10 per cent to boost its share of the European short-haul market.
Ryanair's net profit for the first six months of the year to September was €795 million, an increase of 32 per cent.
Traffic increased by 4 per cent to 51.3 million passengers and total revenues rose by 9 per cent to €3.5 billion.
The good news comes after Ryanair introduced a range of improvements to its customer service and a new business package earlier this year.
