The company made the remarks alongside first-quarter results, which saw net income rise 4 per cent to €256 million (£214 million) and revenue rise 2 per cent to €1.69 billion (£1.4 billion).
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Mr. O’Leary lobbied hard for the U.K.to remain in the EU.
Ryanair’s famed cost control – Accendo analyst Mike van Dulken raised the old tale about staff having to pay for their uniforms – is still very much in effect, with a 9pc drop in unit costs.
It’s not all bad news for Ryanair.
One of the largest Africa-based money transfer businesses, Dahabshiil, warned shortly after the UK’s Brexit vote that the move will hit remittances and affect investments in the region. Fuel fell by €42m to €518m in Q1.
On Monday, Ryanair issued a statement saying it would “pivot our growth away from United Kingdom airports and focus more on growing at our [European] airports over the next two years”. Nearly 55% of Ryanair’s FY18 fuel is now hedged at just under $500 per tonne (c. $50bbl).
The airline added it would pivot its growth away from United Kingdom airports and shift more of its operations to Ryanair’s European Union hubs over the next two years.
The airline’s CMO said if the United Kingdom withdrew from the agreement – coupled with a considerable drop in sterling – Ryanair would move extra capacity to other European markets.
“In the meantime, we will pivot our growth away from United Kingdom airports and focus more on growing at our European Union airports over the next two years”.
Britain will need months of preparation before Brexit talks can start, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday, chiding the government in London for not preparing better for the possibility of a “Leave” vote.
It also plans to “cut capacity and frequency on many … routes” from London’s Stansted airport, which is a regional hub for budget flights. “This uncertainty will be damaging to economic growth and consumer confidence and we will respond as always with our load factor active/yield passive strategy”, the company said in a press release.
The UK is going to be negotiating access to the single market and the open skies regulatory framework now, and until that happens, airlines can only guess what they’ll be doing in the future.
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It also said it may muscle in on routes run by UK-based rivals if those airlines became unable to fly intra-EU routes.
