Ryanair CEO: ' Demand Last Year Was Weak And It's Been Remarkably Strong This Year In Europe'

Ryanair Holdings plc (ADR)RYAAY reported its full-year 2015 earnings on Tuesday. EPS for the year came at 0.63 euros on revenue of 5.66 billion euros. The Street was expecting EPS of 0.62 euros on revenue of 5.65 billion euros.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair CEO, was on CNBC post the earnings release to weigh in on the results.

Customer Demand Strong

"Customer demand last year was weak and it's been remarkably strong this year in Europe," O'Leary said. "I mean, driven by the fact that we have been moving into primary airports, taking huge [swathes] of traffic off legacy carriers in Europe at much lower fares."

Strongly Hedged Against Rising Dollar

O'Leary was asked how a stronger dollar is impacting the business of the company. He replied, "It's not great for our business in general terms if you are trading in Euros because you are buying your aircraft, your fuel, your maintenance in general, but we are very strongly hedged out for about the next two years at about $1.35 to Euros. So, we are in great shape."

Huge Savings From Fuel In 2016

On fuel charges for the company remaining flat even though oil prices have come down, O'Leary said, "They are, but fuel has fallen significantly. Most of the European airlines tend to be hedged typically on a 12 month rolling program. So, as we move out over the rest of 2015 [into already] 2016, we start to pick up huge savings from the current fall in oil price from $90 per barrel [to $40]."