Ryanair numbers growth could aid region

Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said he wants to increase passenger numbers to between 120 million and 130 million over the next decade, which would make Ryanair one of the biggest airlines in the world.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, said the plans could result in more flights coming in to Leeds Bradford as it steps up flights from Scandinavia and eastern Europe.

The airline said this could mean an opportunity for route growth at its most successful airports, which it said included Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh.

Unlike other UK airports which have been hit by the introduction of the controversial air passenger duty, Leeds Bradford has continued to grow.

As part of its expansion plans, the airline is to introduce two new routes at Leeds Bradford next month.

The new flights to Kaunas, in Lithuania, and Riga, in Latvia, will bring the airline’s winter schedule up to 13 routes.

Other popular destinations include Dublin, Ibiza, Nantes, Limoges, Montpellier, Knock, Venice, Pisa and Faro.

Mr O’Leary said the airline is in talks with plane makers Boeing, Comac in China, and Russia’s Irkut over the purchase of 200 to 300 new narrow-bodied aircraft.

Ryanair carried 72.1 million passengers in 2010/11, but the plans could double the size of its fleet of 270 aircraft.

Mr O’Leary added that Ryanair could increase its share of the European market as the tough economic environment boosts demand for low-cost travel.

He said the airline could deploy 50 new aircraft to serve Scandinavia and a further 100 to service the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The airline paid a £431m special dividend in 2010/11 and Mr O’Leary said another payment is under consideration for 2012/13.

A third special dividend could be paid in 2014/15 if no aircraft order has been finalised by then.

All of Ryanair’s planes are manufactured by United States manufacturer Boeing and analysts warned that costs could increase if it bought aircraft from another maker.

Ryanair aims to increase passenger numbers at Leeds Bradford airport to over one million this year.

The budget carrier will add 100,000 customers to its 2010 figures at the West Yorkshire airport and said it is winning customers from Manchester airport.

The airline said it is helping Leeds Bradford to increase its inbound passenger numbers, for holidaymakers coming to the Yorkshire Dales.

Earlier this year Ryanair blamed higher fuel and operating costs for lower than expected quarterly profits.

The carrier said its fuel bill rose by 49 per cent, or £123m on a year ago, to £375.8m.

The Irish airline, which operates more than 1,500 flights a day, warned that traffic would fall this winter season as high fuel costs will force the airline to ground flights.

In the three months to the end of June, first-quarter profits rose by one per cent, to £122.6m.

The costs offset a 29 per cent rise in revenues, to £1bn, reflecting an 11 per cent rise in average fares and an 18 per cent jump in passenger numbers, to 21.3 million.

Ryanair has bought 90 per cent of its requirements for the current financial year to next March.

Controversial cost cutter

Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary is well-known for courting controversy with his cost-cutting suggestions.

These have included charging to use the lavatories on planes, removing a toilet, standing passenger space, and scrapping the role of the co-pilot.

Mr O’Leary has said the lavatory charge would involve using a credit card rather than a coin slot. The “pay a pound to spend a penny” plan could earn £15m a year for the airline, he said, which could be passed on to passengers in fare savings.