Irish-based airline Ryanair reported a 55 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £356 million in the three months to the end of June.

It said it expected fares to fall in the coming months thanks to fuel bill savings.

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "We are pleased to report this 55 per cent increase in profit after tax ..but caution that the outcome is distorted by the absence of Easter in the prior year Q1.

"While Q1 average fares rose by one per cent to just over 40 Euros this was due to a strong April (boosted by Easter) offset by adverse sterling, lower bag revenue as more customers switch to our 2 free carry-on bag policy and yield stimulation following a series of security events in Manchester and London."

Traffic in the first quarter was up 12 per cent with some 397 B737 aircraft in the Ryanair fleet.

He added: "We remain concerned at the uncertainty which surrounds the terms of the UK's departure from the EU in March '19.

"If we do not have certainty about the legal basis for the operation of flights between the UK and the EU by autumn 2018, we may be forced to cancel flights and move some, or all, of our UK based aircraft to continental Europe from April '19 onwards."