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Ryanair says it will overtake BA
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says the airline will be bigger than Lufthansa and British Airways, following the announcement of record profits for the year.
The Irish no-frills carrier posted an increased profit after tax of 239.4 million euros in the year to March 31 2003, up 59% from the previous year.
Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary said: “…within the next three years we plan to carry more than 30 million international scheduled passengers per annum at which point we will overtake both Lufthansa and British Airways to become the largest international scheduled airline in the world.”
Passengers numbers for the year to the end of March reached nearly 16 million, up 42% from the previous year.
Mr O’Leary added that Ryanair was seeking to lower fares beyond the 6% reduction achieved in the past year. He backed this up by announcing the launch of one million low fare seats, at £19.99 and £29.99 one way, for travel during June, July and August.
The carrier says it has 40 new airports and 9 potential new bases presently under negotiation.
Despite the results, in early stockmarket trading this morning, shares in Ryanair fell by nearly 10%, and by 9am were trading at 398p, some 41.5p down.
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