Ryanair said today that business continues to be robust with stronger than expected traffic numbers.
However, chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary told shareholders at the company's AGM that the only black spot was the decline in the tourism industry in Ireland.
Mr O'Leary said the sector was facing a disaster which in his view could be averted if efficient, low-cost facilities were provided at Dublin and Shannon airports.
Meanwhile he said: "Current trading remains robust and we continue to predict results to be in line with market expectations."
He said the airline had €1 billion in cash reserves and would announce new routes and possibly a new operating base in the near future.
The company, which has been flying high in the past year as it made a major expansion in Germany and began adding the first of 150 new 737s it has on order from Boeing, said its market capitalisation of €4.15 billion now exceeded that of Lufthansa and was double that of British Airways.
It said it had now supplanted British Airways as the number one carrier on the London-Brussels route, one of the key business markets in Europe.
The company said it had just completed a record week of sales, with more than 700,000 bookings taken over the previous seven days while the airline conducted a one million "free seat" giveaway.
Ryanair said it was finalising new route and base negotiations for the summer of next year and expected soon to announce new routes to start operating in early December.
Additonal reporting by PA
