Irish carrier Ryanair has said a 20% pilot pay increase has contributed to €200m in higher staff costs.

The airline has said its full year profit is down 29% to €1.02bn.

It also said repeated air traffic control disruptions pushed ex-fuel unit costs €50m higher.

While strong traffic growth, up 7% to 139 million, was offset by a 6% decline in fares.

The company said revenues rose 6% to €7.6bn due to 7% higher traffic and a 6% cut in average fares.

But it also reported strong growth in 'priority boarding' and 'reserved seat' charges.

Ryanair said it closed "unprofitable bases" in Bremen and Eindhoven - and also cut aircraft numbers in Niederrhein, Hahn and the Canary Islands.

Boeing 737 MAX

The carrier also indicated it is preparing to take in an order of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

These models were grounded world-wide following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March.

All 157 people on board - including Irish engineer Micheál Ryan - were killed.

The crash has led to questions over the safety of the aircraft.

It also came just months after another accident involving the same aircraft model in Indonesia.

A Lion Air flight crashed shortly after take-off from Jakarta in October, killing all 189 people on board.

Ryanair has said it is set to take delivery of five B737-MAX aircraft this winter, subject to regulatory approval by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

"We continue to have utmost confidence in these aircraft which have 4% more seats, are 16% more fuel efficient and generate 40% lower noise emissions", the airline added.

On the full year results, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said: "As previously guided, Ryanair (excl. Lauda) reports a full year after tax profit of €1.02bn.

"Short-haul capacity growth and the absence of Easter in Q4 led to a 6% fare decline, which stimulated 7% traffic growth to over 139m (142m guests incl. Lauda).

"Ancillary sales performed strongly up 19% to €2.4bn, which drove total revenue growth of 6% to €7.6bn".