Ryanair lost a total of €273 million over the first three months of the financial year.

The figure compares to a loss of €185 million for the same period of last year.

Traffic at the low-cost carrier rebounded from 0.5 million to 8.1 million over the first quarter, largely due to a recovery in capacity during May and June.

Commenting on the results, Ryanair Holdings Group chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said he expected aviation to substantially recover next summer.

“We expect intra-European capacity to be materially lower for the foreseeable future,” he explained.

“This will create growth opportunities for Ryanair to extend airport incentives, as the group takes delivery of 210 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft. 

“We are encouraged by the high rate of vaccinations across Europe. 

“If, as is presently predicted, most of Europe’s adult population is fully vaccinated by September, then we believe that we can look forward to a strong recovery in air travel for the second half of the fiscal year and well into summer 2022 - as is presently the case in domestic United States air travel.”

Ryanair recorded revenue of €371 million for the three months to the end of June, up from €125 million in the same period last year.