DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair on Monday reported near-record profit of 1.43 billion euros for the year to the end of March and said it was cautiously optimistic about a modest increase in profit for l current year, with summer demand being particularly robust.

Ireland’s busiest airline in Europe by passenger numbers carried a record 168.6 million people during the year, beating its previous annual record of 149 million set before the pandemic. She reiterated that she hoped to increase traffic to 185 million passengers in the current financial year.

Ryanair had recorded a loss of 355 million euros during the financial year to the end of March 2022, marked by the pandemic, after a record profit of 1.45 billion euros for the year to March 31, 2018.

The low-cost airline, however, expects short-haul flight capacity on the continent to remain below pre-Covid-19 levels. The highest tariffs should be higher than last year and a continued reduction in capacity should benefit the group.

The recent delays in the delivery of Boeing planes could, however, push back some of this growth in the second half of the year, and reduce the objective slightly. The company expects to miss 10 new planes in June and July.

“The large backlog of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) aircraft deliveries is expected to limit capacity growth in Europe for at least another four years, providing a significant growth premium for deliveries of the 110 Ryanair’s remaining B737 Gamechangers over the next three summers,” Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said.

Unit costs relative to competitors, fuel risk hedging, strong balance sheet and ultra-low cost aircraft order book should create “huge growth opportunities for Ryanair in the coming years”, it said. he added.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin, Dina Kartit, editing by Kate Entringer)

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