Aer Lingus is expected to shortly report operating profits of about €79 million for 2003, a 23 per cent increase on the year before.
The profits, when officially announced in a few weeks' time, will be the highest in the company's recent history.
The figures may prompt the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to speed up the sale of the airline.
A company spokesman declined to comment on the end- of-year results.
The company's trans-Atlantic revenue was better than expected in the second half with flights to New York achieving average load factors of over 90 per cent.
While the strength of the euro against the dollar has had an impact on inbound US traffic, the company will report strong outbound sales to the US with shoppers cashing in on the weak dollar.
The airline should also benefit from lower interest charges.
The airline has been offering discounted flights to the US during December and January, which is traditionally a quiet time for travel.
The airline has been valued at between €300 million and €900 million over the past few years.
The Department of Transport has begun compiling a paper outlining the various options for the airline's future.
The issue of valuable slots at Heathrow Airport is expected to be examined in this paper.
Meanwhile, European planemanufacturer Airbus said it had outsold US rival Boeing in 2003 for the first time in three decades.
However, it forecast slightly lower jet orders this year amid poor demand in the United States.
France-based Airbus said at its annual results conference that it delivered 305 commercial jets for about €19.3 billion in 2003, compared with 281 deliveries for Boeing.
The European firm has weathered a sharp downturn in the commercial aerospace market better than Boeing, which has slashed tens of thousands of jobs since the September 11th attacks in the US and cut annual plane production by nearly 50 per cent from 2001 levels.
In contrast, Airbus has avoided job losses, boosted its market share and is on the verge of breaking Boeing's monopoly of the jumbo market with its 555-seat A380, which is due to begin flying in 2006.
