Ryanair said profits from low-priced airlines fell 16% in the year and airfares will return this summer.

Europe's largest airline, carrying more than 200 million passengers in 2024-25, saw fares drop 7% to fill the aircraft's controversy to stop bookings, reducing full-year profits to 1.6 billion euros (£1.4 billion).

However, it expects fares to grow about 5%-6% during the peak season of 2025, with Easter’s leap in the first quarter already reaching 15%.

The airline CEO Michael O'Leary said the full year results were “very good in the context of last year, where we competed with OTA (online travel agents) and ticket prices fell by 7% – a very strong set of numbers”.

He said the airline earned about 8 euros per passenger, with the cost exactly the same as the number of passengers, claiming: "The cost gap between us and all of our competitors is growing."

Ryanair paid a dividend of about 400 million euros this year. O'Leary said profits will rise and are boosted by lower jet fuel prices.

O'Leary said the airline could move its upcoming Boeing to the UK instead of its major European airline to avoid tariffs if necessary. Ryanair is its largest customer in Europe, but delivery of the 737 Max 8 model has been delayed after US aircraft manufacturers have encountered many years of problems.

He said Boeing's "a situation on the ground has improved significantly", but Ryanair is waiting for next summer's schedule to add 29 aircraft, which could be delivered this fall, and "it could risk the tariffs again."

O'Leary said he believed Donald Trump "tryed to back off the tariffs as much as he could" but added: "We have a fixed price contract with Boeing - the tariffs will be Boeing's account, not ours, but we will work with Boeing to try to find ways around them.

“The trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom does not appear to impose tariffs on commercial aircraft – we have the option to bring these delivery to the UK Register rather than the European Register to bypass any tariff risks.”

He said the delays have made Ryanair "a little rich right now" and "the surplus cash will return to shareholders" and will receive a €750 million buyback from next week.

O'Leary said Keir Starmer and the reset of Europe said to Ryanair, especially about the passport electronic gate and possible youth mobility scheme: "Anything that reduces friction between the UK and Europe, we will support something really stupid - especially something really stupid, like people riding in non-European channels in Europe."