The airline's deputy chief executive, Howard Millar, told the Irish Independent that the talks would need to be successfully concluded during the summer if it's to begin adding capacity by September.
He made the comments as Ryanair reported record annual profits of €569m in the 12 months to the end of March – a 13pc increase on the previous year.
That catapulted its shares more than 8pc higher at one stage and with an almost €10bn market capitalisation confirmed its position as Ireland's second most valuable company after building materials giant CRH.
REVENUE
Ryanair's revenue last year also jumped by 13pc, to €4.88bn, and the company said that it expects to generate profits of between €570m and €600m in the current financial year. Its fuel costs jumped 18pc last year to €1.88bn, while total revenue per passenger climbed 8pc.
The airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, said that he expects the UK's Competition Commission – which is probing Ryanair's near 30pc stake in Aer Lingus – to come up with "some scatty idea" that the airline should sell part of its holding in its smaller rival.
"I can't imagine they'll require us to sell all of the stake, but there'll be some partial sell down," he said. "That will expose them to a lot of legal issues."
The commission is expected to deliver a preliminary ruling before the end of this month.
However, Mr O'Leary said Ryanair will appeal any order to sell any of its stake.
Ryanair, which ordered 175 Boeing aircraft in March and is in talks for a further large order with the manufacturer, is eyeing passenger growth across Europe as legacy carriers increasingly reduce their short-haul operations. It's aiming to have a 20pc share of the European short-haul market within five years, compared to the 10pc or so it has now.
PASSENGERS
It flew 79.3 million passengers last year, 5pc more than in the previous 12 months.
Passenger numbers in the current financial year are expected to rise by nearly 3pc to 81.5 million.
Independent.ie
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