Ryanair’s group chief executive Michael O’Leary has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for November, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.
In early November, the Irish airline reported that a record 95.1 million people travelled with it in the first half of its financial year, as holidaymakers returned to flying in huge numbers following two years of air travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
Ryanair said it expects to fly 168 million passengers in the 12 months to the end of March, up from its previous prediction of 166.5 million.
Ryanair also reported a record €1.37 billion profit for the six months to September 30th, as soaring passenger numbers drove recovery from pandemic disruptions. And the airline announced that it was bringing forward full pre-Covid pay restoration for employees to December this year from April 2023 on the back of its strong trading performance.
Mr O’Leary told analysts that increased capacity and cost advantages over rivals would enable Ryanair to continue growing and taking a larger share of European air travel markets.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Mr O’Leary would remain as chief executive of the Ryanair group until 2028.
