New data from Ryanair has revealed that the number of passengers it flew in July doubled.
Passenger numbers increased from 4.4m to 9.3m as travel restrictions eased over summer.
The group said that after posting a net loss of €273m for its first quarter, it could expect a profit for the year’s second quarter.
Ryanair said it also plans to hire 2,000 pilots – after many lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Darrell Hughes, the airline’s people director, said: “Throughout the pandemic, Ryanair has worked closely with our people to save jobs and we are delighted to start planning for a return to growth over the coming years as we recover from the Covid-19 crisis and grow to 200m guests by FY2024,”