Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary yesterday told shareholders the airline may consider setting up a partner company to operate long-haul flights between Ireland and the US.

However, there are no immediate plans for such a move and Mr O'Leary said such an initiative would not involve the existing company.

His comments came at Ryanair's annual general meeting where the company announced three new routes from Dublin yesterday - to Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Alghero in Sardinia, and Trapani in Sicily, as well as one from Derry to Glasgow Prestwick. Mr O'Leary said the airline would travel to 69 destinations from Dublin by next summer.

Asked about the airline's plans to focus on more distant destinations with the introduction of flights to the Canary Islands, Mr O'Leary said it still intends to focus mainly on short-haul routes but was keen to introduce competition to some popular holiday destinations.

Mr O'Leary told shareholders Ryanair expects earnings to be in line with expectations despite disruption following the attempted terrorist attacks in London.

Speaking after the meeting in Dublin yesterday, he said that while bookings had fallen off by about 10 per cent over the weekend of the terror alert, things had returned to normal within a week.

"The security alert has had no material effect but it has cost us money," he said, reiterating that he expects yields to fall off in the second half of the year.

Ryanair last month said it was suing the British government for £3 million (€4.5 million) related to the flight delays and cancellations.

Mr O'Leary said Ryanair plans to double passenger numbers from around 42 million this year by 2012, and that it would continue to make record profits despite the high oil price. Ryanair last month revealed a 67 per cent increase in first-quarter pretax profits to €128.6 million.

Mr O'Leary reiterated his commitment not to introduce fuel surcharges. The company is currently hedged up until the end of December and is in the process of arranging hedges for the first quarter of next year, he said.

A more detailed update on second-quarter yields is expected next Friday.

Shareholders approved a possible share buyback of as much as 5 per cent of the group's issued share capital, though Mr O'Leary said any surplus cash would likely be used to help fund aircraft purchases.