Ryanair says COVID-19 is continuing to "wreak havoc" on its business.
The airline has reported a loss of €273 million for the three months from the start of April.
However, the airline’s stats show passenger numbers are continuing to improve - going from 0.5 million between April-June 2020 to 8.1 million in the same period this year.
Speaking about the results, Michael O’Leary said: “COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on our business.
“Most of our Easter flights were cancelled, and there was a slower than expected easing of EU travel restrictions into May and June.”
Mr O’Leary said there has been a “surge” in traffic in recent weeks, however - pointing to the introduction of the Digital COVID Cert in the EU and easing of quarantine restrictions in the UK.
He said the airline is ‘optimistic’ they’ll hit their target of 10 million passengers for August, as long as there aren’t any further ‘COVID setbacks’.
He suggested that while European air traffic is expected to be ‘materially lower’ for the foreseeable future, Ryanair is confident they can grow passenger numbers.
Despite the substantial Q1 loss, the airline says it expects to make just a "small loss" - close to breaking even - for the entire 2022 financial year.
Mr O'Leary and Ryanair have been heavily critical of travel restrictions, claiming Ireland's approach before the easing of restrictions last week was "bonkers" and "completely off on left-field".
