Ryanair’s former deputy chief executive Michael Cawley earned just under €5.8 million this week by exercising one million share options in the airline and selling them on at much higher prices. A stock exchange announcement from Ryanair yesterday detailed the share transactions by Mr Cawley, who is now a non-executive director of the airline. It states that Mr Cawley paid €2.56 per share to exercise his options on Thursday and Friday of this week. He then sold 385,000 shares at €8.56 a share and 815,000 shares at €8.29 a piece on the same days.

Mr Cawley continues to own 615,588 shares in Ryanair, according to the stock market filing.