Budget airline Ryanair generated close to record net profit in financial year 2023. The €1.43 billion (€1.31 billion including exceptional items) puts the company firmly back into pre-pandemic realms thanks to "strong traffic recovery, improving fares, industry leading cost base and advantageous fuel hedges".
As our chart shows, the airline initially saw losses of around €1.2 billion over the first two pandemic-hit financial years, but as detailed by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, it has managed to capitalise on the rapid recovery of the European travel market: "Ryanair’s market share has grown significantly in most EU markets as we operated 116% of our pre-Covid capacity in FY23".
