Ryanair is to raise its fares following a fall in quarterly profits after being fined by Italy's competition watchdog for abusing its market position.
The budget airline posted pre-tax profits of €24.4m (£21.2m) for the three months to December, an 83% drop from the same period the previous year.
But the company remained confident saying it expected passenger numbers to grow by 4% to almost 208 million this year. It expects average fares to increase by between 8% and 9% this year, more than the 7% it predicted in November.
In December, the Italian regulator fined Ryanair €256m (£222m) for "abusing its dominant position" by blocking travel agencies' access to its services.
Releasing its quarterly results on Monday, Ryanair said it had appealed the Italian fine, calling it "baseless".
