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Ryanair soars to new heights
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNN) -- Ryanair, Europe's second-largest budget airline, said on Tuesday profit soared as it carried more passengers and added new routes. The carrier, which bought loss-making rival Buzz for $26 million and ordered 100 Boeing jets for about $6 billion last week, said its fiscal third-quarter net income rose 50 percent to 43.2 million euros ($46.3 million). Analysts polled by Reuters had been expecting a net income of about 40 million euros for the quarter. Revenue climbed 37 percent to 185.9 euros in the three months ended December 31, 2002. Ryanair said its planes had been 86 percent full over the three months and it carried 3.9 million passengers, up 46 percent, as it policy of offering low fares continued to pay off. "These are another good set of numbers which result from the disciplined way we are rolling out our low fares all over Europe," Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said. He also raised the company's guidance for full-year net profit to 235 million euros, from 230 million seen previously. "This a virtuous cycle of lower costs, lower fares, faster growth and increasing profits," O'Leary said. "No other airline in Europe can match Ryanair's low fares and the gap between Ryanair's prices and the rest continues to widen." O'Leary has been criticised for his acquisition of Buzz but he predicted the airline would become profitable within 12 months. "We are aware that some commentators fear that we are biting off more than we can chew," O'Leary said. "We are conscious of this but one cannot always control the timing of opportunities that present themselves. "However the purchase price made this deal, in our view, a very attractive proposition." By the end of its next fiscal year the Irish carrier said it would carry about 24 million passengers, rivaling number two European international carrier Air France.
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