RYANAIR HAS SAID its half yearly profits are up 20 per cent and it expects its full year profits to be better than previously forecast.

The half-yearly profits were up to €544 million with overall revenues up 24 per cent to €2.7 billion.

Nearly five million more passengers travelled on Ryanair flights in the period to 30 September this year compared to the same period last year, an increase of 12 per cent.

Average fares increased by 13 per cent which the airline said was a result of a 37 per cent increase in fuel costs and longer routes.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said that the airline’s capacity cuts will mean that traffic will fall by 4 per cent in the second half of the year.

Traffic will decline by 10 per cent this month alone or around half-a-million passengers with 80 planes to be grounded due to higher oil prices, Ryanair said.

O’Leary said he expects full year profits to be up based on the latest figures: “We are raising our full year net profit guidance by 10 per cent from €400 million to €440 million, subject of course to the final outturn of fourth quarter yields”.

He was also critical of Dublin Airport and the Dublin Airport Authority as well as accusing the government of “protecting the high cost DAA monopoly”.

The Ryanair CEO has said recently he intends to double the size of the airline over the next ten years, BBC News reports.