Ryanair boss hits out at chancellor over growth as profits climb 42%

Ryanair's boss has accused the chancellor of having no idea how to grow the UK economy as the airline reported that hikes to fares had delivered a 42% rise in half-year profits.

Michael O'Leary told Sky's Mornings with Ridge and Frost programme that Rachel Reeves "hasn't the rashers how to deliver growth" while taking aim at a planned rise in air passenger duty slated for next April.

He called for the hike, revealed at her first budget last October, to be reversed in her speech to the Commons on 26 November - a budget business believes could further harm private sector investment.

"Until she starts cutting these insane taxes and stop trying to tax wealth, the UK economy is doomed to continue to fail", he said.

"But, in a bizarre way, that's probably good for Ryanair's business because as people get more price sensitive, more and more of them will fly Ryanair," he concluded.

Mr O'Leary was speaking after the no-frills carrier, which is Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, reported profit after tax for the six months to the end of September of €2.54bn (£2.2bn).

The better-than-expected sum followed a second quarter recovery for fares - the cost of a seat before add-ons - in the wake of a 7% decline across its last financial year.

Ryanair said revenues per passenger were up 9% over the six months, helped by a 13% rise in fares and higher revenues from additional things like baggage fees and seat selection.

It reported record passenger numbers of 119 million for the half year - the summer season that tends to be the most profitable - and guided that fares, despite some discounting, were on track to end the financial year on a positive footing.

The airline raised its passenger traffic forecast due to earlier-than-expected deliveries of more efficient Boeing aircraft and strong first-half demand.

Ryanair said it expected to fly 207 million passengers in the year to the end of March, up from an earlier forecast of 206 million.

Mr O'Leary told investors: "While Q3 forward bookings are slightly ahead of (PY) prior year, particularly across the Oct. mid-term and Christmas peaks, we would caution that we face more challenging PY fare comps in H2 (second half) making fare growth more challenging".

(c) Sky News 2025: Ryanair boss hits out at chancellor over growth as profits climb 42%