Ryanair boosted its annual profit guidance yesterday after rivals cut theirs as the Irish budget airline more than doubled its first-quarter profit citing a boost from its drive to improve customer service.

Europe’s biggest budget airline last year vowed to improve its service, adding seat allocations, easing restrictions on hand luggage and cutting penalty charges.

“We’ve made a lot of service improvements over the last six or seven months and we’re seeing the benefits in terms of rising profitability,” chief financial officer Howard Millar told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Ryanair raised its profit forecast for the year to March 2015 to between €620 million and €650 million, up from a range of €580 million to €620 million seen previously.

The strong numbers are evidence that Ryanair’s shift in strategy to improve customer service and focus on more primary airports is working, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Robin Byde said in a note.

Ryanair’s improved outlook contrasts with warnings by Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, and comes nine months after a profit warning from Ryanair which flagged last year’s decline in profits, its first in five years.

Millar said paying to choose a seat was particularly popular with passengers and made up for the reduced charges elsewhere.

Ancillary revenues – charges for extras like carry-on baggage and on-board refreshments – rose 4 per cent in the first quarter in line with growth in passenger numbers.

Strong numbers are evidence that shift in strategy and focus on primary airports are working

Ryanair said strong forward bookings from a strategy aimed at tempting passengers to book their flights earlier increased its confidence for the year ahead.

It said it expected traffic growth of 3 per cent in the first half and fares to increase by 6 per cent subject to late bookings.

That followed a 9 per cent first-quarter rise in fares that helped Ryanair earn €197 million after tax, better than a forecast of €157 million in a poll of analysts conducted by the company. The result marked a jump of 152 per cent from a year earlier.

Ryanair, which plans to pay a €520 million dividend to shareholders in the fourth quarter, expects a much softer pricing environment in the second half of its financial year as competitors cut fares and said it planned to raise winter capacity by 8 per cent to take advantage of growth discounts and build business-friendly routes.