Ryanair sees profits tumble as fares fall

What will happen next?

In the final three months of 2016, Ryanair saw its average fares fall faster than it “initially planned”, the airline also saw its profits fall.

The company’s average fares fell by 18 per cent, its profits fell by eight per cent to 95m euros (£82m).

Despite this, passenger numbers climbed by 16 per cent to 29m, the airlines planes flew at 95 per cent capacity.

Ryanair has said it was “cautious” about the rest of the financial year ahead.

Ryanair’s average fares sat at 33 euros (£28) per passenger during the October to December months.

Uncertainty following the Brexit vote, the weaker sterling, as well as the switch of charter capacity from Turkey, Egypt and North Africa into Spain and Portugal would also “continue to put downward pressure on pricing for the remainder of this year” as well as the next.

Ryanair chief financial officer Neil Sorahan told the BBC that although the airline had plans to expand in the UK “we have been quite clear that as we move closer to Brexit… that we won’t grow as quickly in the UK as we might otherwise have done”.

“We have 15 per cent market share now all across Europe so there’s an awful lot more to play for and we’re seeing a lot of great opportunities outside of the UK,”