They carry more passangers but make less profit from each.
Carrying 24% more passanges is achived by keeping fares very low in the winter period.
Today the results for the 3rd quarter are published (oct to dec)
http://www.ryanair.com/site/about/in...3_2006_doc.pdf
Quarter Ended Dec 31, 2004 Dec 31, 2005 % Increase
Passengers 6.9m 8.6m 26%
Revenue €291.8m €370.7m 27%
Adjusted Profit after Tax €34.8m €36.8m 6%
Basic EPS (Euro Cents) 4.58 4.79 5%
They made 5.03 euros per pax in 04q3 that drops to 4.27 euros in 05Q3.
They did very well to hedge most the fuel until the end of march 06. After that they will be back to spot market rates. This is why the flying program
is being reduced becasue any fuel used above the hedged amount will be at market prices.
Ryanair use lots of tricks so the numbers always look good. The revenue per passanger rose only 1%. Ryanair cannot raise prices as they have excess capacity to fill. They have ordered far too many planes and are committed to doubling in size or die trying.