Ryanair Earnings Fall 24% on Impact of Icelandic Volcano

Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYAAY), Europe's largest discount airline, reported a 24% decline in quarterly earnings on the impact of the Icelandic volcano that caused travel chaos in the spring.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 was 93.7 million euros ($122 million), compared with 123 million euros for the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement. Operating revenue rose 16% year on year to 896.8 million euros.

"Our Q1 profits were adversely impacted by the unnecessary closures of European airspace for 18 days in April and May," CEO Michael O'Leary said. "Despite these volcanic ash disruptions Ryanair continues to increase traffic, yields, and profits, while most of our competitors are cutting capacity and reporting losses."