The European airline industry has had to endure a tumultuous year, yet Ryanair somehow managed to make a profit along the way.
The Independent reports the budget airline claimed a six percent bump in profits year-to-year through March 31, 2017, representing €1.316 billion (or about 1.47 billion).
It's fantastic news for Ryanair considering all this airline and the rest of Europe's contingent have had to deal with over the last 12 months.
Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary explained further, highlighting the industry's hardships while offering its solution: "Despite difficult trading conditions caused by a series of security events at European cities, a switch of charter capacity from North Africa, Turkey and Egypt to mainland Europe, and a sharp decline in sterling following the June 2016 Brexit vote. We reacted to these challenges by improving our customer experience, and stimulating growth with lower fares."
According to the Independent, this comes amid falling fares. Ryanair actually predicts a consumer-friendly drop in continental airfare by about five to seven percent, which it believes will be "due to weaker sterling, and continuing excess capacity in Europe."
When it comes to Brexit, the withdrawal has amounted to a joy for international travelers headed to the United Kingdom. Visit Britain reported earlier this year that the country had experienced a bumper crop of booked flights to close out 2016, and it foresees an 8.1 percent increase in spending through this year.
Of course, what's good for the consumer isn't always great for the airlines.
Travel Pulse's Rich Thomaselli reported in March that Brexit would cause some massive infrastructure consequences for various brands: "The heads of several UK carriers have been told by EU officials to move their headquarters out of England and to cut their shares in order to continue to offer flights within Europe - that is, flights that do not begin or end in UK airports, such as Paris to Madrid or Brussels to Berlin."
Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs thinks more Brexit fallout is in store.
Express.co.uk quotes Jacobs who was on Radio 4's "Today": "Britain is going to leave open skies as it now stands, we need to see clarity in terms of what is going to be the future of open skies, which will mean either a bilateral or not."
The Telegraph had previously explained how Brexit would affect various carriers in the region as pertains to Open Skies: "However the UK is an important market for the airline and so it will be hoping for the existing regulations to be replicated to ensure barrier-free flying between Britain and the EU. If this does not happen and the existing EU Open Skies policy is not replicated, it might need to apply for a domestic UK AOC to fly its intra-UK routes."
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Jacobs elaborated to "Today," explaining how dramatic things could turn thanks to Britain's withdrawal from the European Union: "If there isn't a new bilateral in place, you may have very restrictive or no flying between Europe and the UK for a period. And I think It's clear we're heading to what looks to be a very ugly divorce at the moment.
"Our call on the government here is to please give us and other airlines clarity. Every airline is saying the same. We want to continue doing what we do. Three-quarters of British citizens go to Europe on their holidays, 80 per cent of British business travel is to the continent of Europe, so we need clarity."
Jacobs added that there was a "very small possibility" Ryanair could be out of the U.K. completely.
In the interim, the United Kingdom, its citizens and interested travel brands will be waiting for June 19 when Brexit negotiations begin. There are a wealth of issues outside the nation's withdrawal that will have a tremendous effect on the industry at large.
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