Budget carrier Ryanair announced strong profit estimates for August and earmarked it was expecting further positive results on the back of solid bookings. The company seems to be only lightly affected so far by the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant, Reuters reported.

Ryanair said it was on track to hit upgraded target on passenger numbers, carrying more than 10 million people this month as the firm's post-pandemic recovery continues with strong bookings to the end of this year, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said.

The low-cost airline last month said it expected to fly between 90 million and 100 million people in the 12 months to the end of March 2022, against a peak of 149 million before the Covid-19 pandemic. "Ryanair is recovering strongly, much faster than other any airline in Europe. Bookings are increasing very rapidly," O'Leary told. After flying 5 million passengers in June, representing a third of 2019 levels, numbers rose to 9.3 million in July and are expected to reach about 10.5 million in August, he added. "Bookings for the remainder of this year, through September, October, November are looking very strong, but pricing is weak. We are selling a lot of cheap seats to recover the market very quickly," O'Leary said/Europost