Ryanair rules out Aer Lingus bid

Ryanair said today it increased its pessenger traffic 13 per cent to 65.3 million passengers in 2009, and dismissed rumours it was planning a third bid for rival Aer Lingus.

The no-frills carrier said it was 'highly unlikely' it would make another attempt to buy the airline as long as the Government held on to its 25 per cent stake.

"There is no truth or basis to recent Irish media speculation that Ryanair is preparing a third bid for Aer Lingus," it said in a statement.

Ryanair increased traffic figures in December by 12 per cent to 4.9 million, with load factor increasing 2 per cent to 82 per cent compared to a year earlier.

The load factor shows the average number of seats filled on each aircraft.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the company was on target to carry more than 66 million passengers for the current fiscal year, and said the company planned to significantly decrease capital expenditure.

"With the unsuccessful termination of our talks with Boeing for a 200 aircraft order in December, planned capital expenditure will now decline from €1.2 billion in the current year to as little as €100 million p.a. in fiscal year ending March 2013," said chief executive Michael O'Leary.

"We expect our current cash reserves of €2.5 billion to grow substantially by March 2013 and we plan to distribute surplus cash to shareholders from that date."

Ryanair also said it has hedged 50 per cent of its fuel requirement for the year ending March 2011 at about $720 per tonne.