Ryanair says it is experiencing a “strong” recovery in bookings following the rollout of the EU Digital Covid Certificates.

The scrapping of quarantine for vaccinated arrivals to the UK from mid-July has also resulted in the airline witnessing a “surge” in bookings over recent weeks.

The recovery is coming in the peak summer season.

Ryanair reported a net loss of €273m in the three months to June 30, compared to a loss of €185m in the corresponding period last year, according to a trading update from the airline.

It carried 8.1 million passengers over the three months, an increase of 7.6 million people compared to its first financial quarter last year.

The airline reported revenue of €371m, an increase of 196pc on the same period last year.

However, operating costs rose 116pc to €675m for the three-months. The increase was mainly driven by variable costs such as fuel, airport and handling and route charges.

The group had a “strong” June cash balance of €4.06bn, up from €3.15bn at March 31.

Ryanair’s net debt fell to €1.66bn at June 30 from €2.28bn at the end of March.

Ryanair Holdings CEO, Michael O’Leary, said: “Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc on our business during Q1 with most Easter flights cancelled and a slower than expected easing of EU Government travel restrictions into May and June.”

“Based on current (close-in) bookings, we expect traffic to rise from over 5 million in June to almost 9 million in July, and over 10 million in August, as long as there are no further Covid setbacks in Europe,” he added.

Mr O’Leary said he expects intra-European airline capacity to be “materially lower for the foreseeable future.”

“This will create growth opportunities for Ryanair to extend airport incentives, as the group takes delivery of 210 new Boeing 737 “Gamechanger” aircraft. We are encouraged by the high rate of vaccinations across Europe,” he added.

In the three months to June 30 Ryanair’s ancillary revenue performed well, generating approximately €22 per passenger, with more guests choosing priority boarding and reserved seating.

The company said it “remains impossible” to provide meaningful financial year 2022 guidance at this time.

The airline said it believes financial year 2022 traffic has improved to a range of 90 million to 100 million – it previously guided at the lower end of an 80 million to 120 million passenger range – and it “cautiously” expects that the likely outcome for this financial year is “somewhere between a small loss and breakeven.”

“This is dependent on the continued rollout of vaccines this summer, and no adverse Covid variant developments,” the airline added.