Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary cashes in shares worth £30m as profits at the airline take off

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary sold 2m shares in the airline at €16.49 each

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has cashed in shares worth nearly £30million.

The outspoken 57-year-old sold 2m shares in the budget airline on Wednesday at €16.49 each, earning him £28.9million. The move is a year after he sold 4m shares for £63million.

O’Leary remains the Irish company’s third-largest shareholder with a 3.8 per cent stake, or 44m shares, worth £641.5million.

Ryanair declined to comment as to why the chief executive was selling the stock, which has hovered around €16 since the start of the year.

Despite cancelling hundreds of flights last October to deal with rota changes, profits rose 10 per cent to £1.2billion in the year to March 31, with revenue up 8 per cent to £6billion.

Horse racing fanatic O’Leary, who was paid £2.8million last year, lives in County Westmeath with his wife, Anita Farrell, and their four children.