Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary gestures during a signing ceremony at the 50th Paris Air Show, at the Le Bourget airport near Paris, June 19, 2013. Reuters/Pascal Rossignol
DUBLIN: Irish no-frills airline Ryanair said on Thursday it planned to return 1.0 billion euros ($1.32 billion) to shareholders over the next two years, and raised its outlook for passenger growth.
The Dublin-based carrier said it would complete at least 400 million euros in share buy-backs by the end of its current financial year that runs to the end of March 2014.
Ryanair will then complete another 600 million euros in either special shareholder dividends or share buybacks in the following financial year.
However, the carrier cautioned that this would be subject to fuel, yields and profitability trends continuing.
Ryanair also raised its target for the number of passengers it transports per year to 110 million by March 2019.
That compared with previous guidance of 100 million passengers per year.
It also raised its annual growth rate target from five percent to seven percent.
Earlier this week, Ryanair shareholders had approved a deal to purchase 175 Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $15.6 billion (11.7 billion euros) at list prices.
The aircraft will be delivered over a five-year period from 2014 to 2018. (AFP)
