Ryanair made a post-tax profit of €1.37 billion (£1.23bn) in the six months to the end of September.

The profit was 19% higher than in the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

The airline said the rise in profits over the past six months followed a 15% increase in average air fares over the summer.

Boss Michael O’Leary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was ‘huge pent-up demand for travel’.

Concerns about the impact of recession and rising inflation on Ryanair’s business model ‘have been greatly exaggerated’, he said. When asked about the impact of the cost of living crisis on travel, he said people don’t stop travelling in a recession, they trade down to the cheapest provide ‘which is Ryanair’.

In a statement, the airline said: “As the lowest cost producer in Europe, we expect to grow strongly in a recession as consumers won’t stop flying, but rather they will become more price sensitive.

“Like Aldi, Lidl, Ikea and other price leaders our very strong post Covid recovery shows that price will continue to drive market share gains as we add low cost, more fuel efficient aircraft to our fleet over the next four years.”