Ryanair net profit soars in first quarter

Ryanair, Europe's low fares airline, said on Monday it has garnered 197 million euros (264 million U.S. dollars) in net profit in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 152 percent over last year.
But the dublin-based budget airline said this result was "distorted by the timing of a very strong Easter in the first quarter with no holiday period in the prior year comparable."
It said passenger numbers were up 4 percent to 24.3 million in the first quarter.
Ryanair's Chief executive Michael O'Leary said four new bases at Athens, Brussels, Lisbon and Rome were "performing strongly" with new bases due to open this winter at Cologne, Gdansk, Warsaw and Glasgow.
O'Leary said new routes and frequencies at Stansted and Dublin are due to increase "substantially" while there will be more investment to make routes attractive to business customers.
"We are overrun with growth offers from primary European airports whose incumbent flag and regional carriers continue to cut capacity and traffic.
"These new airports along with our existing 69 bases offer Ryanair significant growth opportunities as the first of our 180 new Boeing order delivers this September," he said.
The airline said a new business service will be launched in September to include same-day flight changes, bigger bag allowances, premium seat allocation and fast-track through security at many airports. (1 euro = 1.34 U.S. dollars)