Ryanair aims to double passenger numbers

RYANAIR is aiming to double its annual passenger numbers over the next 10 years by boosting its fleet by around 200 aircraft.

The company said shareholders could benefit from two more special dividend payments before any fleet order deal is done.

The airline hopes to boost the number of passengers it carries every year from 70 million to 130 million over the course of the next decade. This will be facilitated by a significant growth in fleet capacity over the same timeframe.

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary told the Financial Times the airline could take a large delivery of planes over a six-year window between 2015 and 2021. This would expand Ryanair’s fleet numbers from 300 to 500 aircraft. Mr O’Leary also said management would consider owning planes made by different manufacturers, despite such a move increasing the airline’s operating costs.

Currently, Ryanair only owns Boeing-made aircraft. However, the airline is in talks with Boeing (despite previous agreements falling flat), Comac of China and Russian firm, Irkut. Ryanair paid a special dividend — its first — worth €500 million last year, after its last fleet expansion talks were scrapped. It is not planning to pay shareholders an annual dividend any time soon.

Mr O’Leary also said the next growth phase would include expansion into Scandinavia and further into eastern Europe.

“Staying as is for the next 10 to 20 years sounds a bit too much like just lethargy; we’re not going to stop there,” he said.

Nearly doubling passenger numbers in the next 10 years would maintain Ryanair’s status as one of the largest carriers in the world. Europe’s largest airline, Lufthansa carried 91 million people last year.

Mr O’Leary said continued demand for low-cost air travel will help boost Ryanair’s market share in coming years in the short haul European market.

A spokesperson for the airline said long-haul jets wouldn’t be under consideration in any fleet expansion programme. Such plans mooted by Mr O’Leary, in recent years, seem to remain grounded for now, but would still likely be launched under a different brand name or a sister company to Ryanair.

Meanwhile, Ryanair also published monthly customer service data for September, yesterday. It showed 92% of its flights during the month arrived on time — marking a 9% improvement on the same month last year. It added that it received less than one complaint per thousand passengers in the month.