The airline says it is still “comfortable” with its recently-revised full-year guidance, given its currency and fuel hedging positions, but says its visibility on the fourth quarter is “limited” – pointing out that the Easter 2017 holiday period will fall outside.

Ryanair’s post-tax profit for the six months to 30 September 2016 rose 7% to €1.17 billion ($1.29 billion) despite a revenue increase of just 2% to €4.1 billion.

The airline says that, although passenger numbers were up 12%, average fares declined 10%.

Unit costs across the company, however, also fell by 10% – by 5% excluding fuel costs.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary describes the airline’s financial achievements in the first half as a “creditable performance in difficult market conditions”.

But the airline cautions that its full-year guidance depends heavily on there being no unexpected negative impact on fourth-quarter fares, which it already predicts will decline by 13-15% in the second half.

Ryanair has revised its full-year unit cost forecasts, expecting them to fall 3% compared with the previous estimate of 1%.

It believes it will transport just over 119 million passengers this year and it is raising its long-term estimate by more than 10%, predicting that the budget airline will carry over 200 million by March 2024.