Speaking of Ryanair, the no-frills carrier, which this week posted after-tax profit of £11 million (€13.97 million) for the first quarter to end June, is being recommended as a buy by stockbrokers Dolmen Butler-Briscoe.

The brokers are advocating the stock on the grounds of the company's strong position and ability to cope with any downturn in the existing favourable conditions in the industry.

Ryanair, which is predicting passenger numbers of six million this fiscal year, has bucked the trend of the somewhat mixed results among its rivals.

It increased its passenger traffic by 8 per cent and there was also a rise in the average revenue yield per passenger because of higher returns on the longer European routes.

The company has launched several new routes - to Italy, France and Germany as well as two flights daily between London and Derry. These, it says, have been very successful with an average load factor in excess of 75 per cent.

Dolmen notes that Ryanair's revenues from ancillary activities have increased by 21 per cent to £8.2 million, reflecting increases in passenger volumes, average spend per passenger and non-flight revenues.

It will be interesting to see how Ryanair - and others in the travel sector - cope with the loss of duty free, formerly a highly profitable part of its business. However, the company has always maintained that it would be putting other revenue streams in place as a substitute.

It will also be interesting to see what effect Ryanair's sale of 20,000 seats in July for as little as a tenner will have on its revenues in the next quarter. There was surprise in some circles that the headline-grabbing airline would take such a tack during the peak season, leaving some observers wondering if it were having problems selling seats.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary has warned that blue skies will not remain forever and outlined his strategy in characteristic style this week: "There will come a time in the next year or two when with fuel price rises and interest rises, confidence falls. Our goal is to keep our heads, build up cash and then when it comes to the downturn really stuff the opposition."