Ryanair plans to double its traffic to 84 million passengers and double its profits to almost €900 million by 2012 by targeting new markets in former Soviet republics, north Africa and the Middle East, the company's annual general meeting in Dublin was told.
The market, however, shrugged off the news and Ryanair's shares closed at €5.07 in Dublin yesterday, down five cents in what was a turbulent day for the Irish market.
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Dublin, Michael O'Leary said Ryanair was in talks with five airports outside the EU as it planned the next stage of its growth.
Mr O'Leary said he hoped to conclude a deal in the coming weeks with the owners of Milan Malpensa, Italy's second busiest airport, that could see its operation there match the airline's presence in Dublin by 2010.
The move follows a decision by struggling Italian flag carrier Alitalia to reduce its traffic through Malpensa by seven million passengers a year.
"We've had two meetings with them [Milan Malpensa] in the space of seven days, which is amazing because they wouldn't talk to use for five years," he said.
"I do think that for the first time Milan Malpensa recognises that Ryanair is the solution to its Alitalia problem. I would be hopeful that we could conclude some type of deal with them in the next numbers of weeks."
Mr O'Leary said it could base 10 aircraft at Milan Malpensa initially, rising to 20 within two years. The airline currently operates 22 aircraft from Dublin, one of its biggest bases.
The Ryanair boss said there was only a 50-50 chance that Ryanair would pursue its request for an extraordinary general meeting of Aer Lingus to reverse the decision to quit the Shannon-Heathrow route.
"We are still amazed that the board of directors of Aer Lingus would be in breach of Irish company law, but we have to decide ourselves whether we take this further," he said.
"I think it's a 50-50 call. We may not take it any further or we may well decide we will hold the egm ourselves, but we'll make a decision in the next week or two.
"It appears to us that the [ Aer Lingus] directors are going to ignore us anyway, so we might just be better off recognising that and letting the matter drop."
Ryanair said yesterday that it was in talks with Schiphol airport near Amsterdam to see if could agree a "viable cost base" for flights from Shannon to the Dutch hub. The airline said it was also increasing frequency from Shannon to London and to Paris.
Mr O'Leary also said Ryanair had lodged papers seeking leave for a judicial review of the planning permission for Terminal Two at Dublin airport.
