Ryanair soars to new heights

Ryanair'surprised' by success of Frankfut-Hahn hub

DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland (CNN) -- Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, said profit soared as it carried more passengers and flew to more destinations.

The Irish low-cost carrier said on Monday net income rose 44 percent to 150.4 million euros ($142.3 million) in the year ending March 31, exceeding analyst estimates. Sales climbed 28 percent to 624.1 million euros.

Ryanair, which has ordered 150 737-800 aircraft from Boeing valued at about $9.7 billion to meet demand, has been winning over passengers with offers to fly some routes for as little as 9.99 euros.

Low-cost airlines -- like Ryanair (RYA) and Easyjet (EZJ) -- are expanding their fleets as demand continues to grow, even as traditional national flag carriers cut routes and jobs, and ground aircraft to counter the impact of an economic slowdown and the effects of September 11.

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Chief Executive Michael O'Leary told CNN that he expects traffic to grow 30 to 35 percent per year over the next two years, exceeding the company's owns estimates, before "steadying back" to 25 percent per year.

Ryanair carried 11.1 million passengers, up 38 percent, over its financial year and managed to fill 81 percent of seats on all planes.

"This is another set of outstanding financial results from Ryanair, despite the impact on the airline sector of both the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK, and the tragic events in the U.S.," said O'Leary.

"These two events adversely impacted all airlines, so our increase in passengers and profits last year is further testimony to the robustness of Ryanair's unique low fares formula in Europe."

O'Leary said the airline had been "surprised" with the success of its second continental European hub at Frankfurt-Hahn airport, which is 75-kilometres outside Frankfurt, and expects to carry 2 million passengers on its German routes this year.

Ryanair, which is will be toppled from the No.1 spot when rival EasyJet completes the acquisition of Go-Fly, has welcomed the merger and expects to maintain its competitive advantage with more cut price fares.