Ryanair desk in SpainImage source, Getty Images

The airports didn't recruit enough staff because they had one job to do, according to the boss of the budget airline.

Various governments and airports need to be held to account for not staffing up adequately.

He said they had the schedules months in advance.

Major disruption and cancellation at airports have been caused by staff shortages.

The biggest issue the company had faced was "air", as the airline posted profits of 170m for the three months to the end of June, according to Mr Sorhan.

He said that various governments have to account for not staffing up appropriately for air navigation services.

The airports needed to make sure they had enough security staff and handler. The schedules were in place months in advance.

It's incumbent on the airports to plan better next year, as we were able to staff up for 73 additional aircrafts well in advance.

The travel industry has struggled to keep up with demand after losing thousands of jobs during the Pandemic.

Airports have been criticized for not being able to cater for more flights, while airlines have been blamed for taking more bookings than they can manage.

Aviation industry leaders argue that the government could have done more to support the sector during the Pandemic.

Strike action is threatening the industry, with many staff demanding pay rises to cope with rising costs.

More than 80% of its pilots and 70% of cabin crews have agreements with the company.

The group said they hoped to conclude agreements with the small remaining balance.

The strike action had a minimal impact on the services.

Queues at Heathrow Airport on 1 June 2022Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, There have been delays and long queues at airports in the last few months

As many people head to their first summer holiday since the H1N1 outbreak, Mr Sorahan said that Ryanair was fully staffed and operating over 3000 flights a day.

"We are confident that we can operate almost 100% of our flights, while avoiding delays and disruptions for our guests and their families," the company said.

The airline said its passenger numbers had rebounded to 45.5 million, 9% higher than before the Covid epidemic, but its first quarter profits were still short of pre- Covid levels.

The company said that its fuel costs had gone up by 560% and that the Ukraine ward had damaged Easter bookings.

unpredictability around fuel prices, the risk of new Covid variant and the war in Ukraine meant the company was unable to forecast a profit for the full financial year.

While we are hopeful that the high rate of vaccinations in Europe will allow the airline and tourism industry to fully recover and finally put Covid behind us, we cannot ignore the risk of new Covid variant in autumn 2022," Our experience shows how vulnerable the travel market is.

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