Ryanair profits rise but airline cautious about impact of Brexit
Ryanair has increased its quarterly profits, despite the pilot shortage that caused it to cancel a collection of flights.
Profits rose 12% to €106 million.
The airline says passenger numbers are up 6% despite the cancellations that were sparked by pilot rostering problems.
"Following our pilot rostering failure in September, the painful decision to ground 25 aircraft ensured that punctuality of our operations quickly returned to our normal 90% average," said Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary.
Ryanair's outlook for 2018 is cautious and some disruptions are expected.
"Our outlook for the remainder of FY18 is cautious. As we finalise union discussions along similar lines to that agreed in the UK, we expect some localised disruptions and adverse PR so investors should be prepared for same," O'Leary said.
He added that the prospect of Brexit is a worrying one for airlines and there is a risk of flight disruptions in 2019.
"We, like other airlines, need clarity on this issue before we publish our summer 2019 schedules in mid-2018 and time is running out for the UK to develop and agree these solutions. We believe the UK government continues to under-estimate the likelihood of flight disruptions to/from the UK."
