Mickey Mouse Ryanair trumpets its success

[Blastor]

Mickey Mouse Ryanair trumpets its success after 20 years

Friday, May 27, 2005 Page B10

Ryanair Holdings PLC, the brash no-frills airline that has expanded rapidly across Europe, celebrated its 20th birthday yesterday by predicting it would soon overtake British Airways PLC in the number of passengers it carries.

Ryanair took to the air two decades ago, operating a single daily route between London and the southeast Irish city of Waterford.

Today it operates 220 routes in 19 countries.

Chief executive officer Michael O'Leary blew out 20 candles on a cake in a central Dublin hotel -- then made a raft of predictions about the airline's coming triumphs.

He said Ryanair this year would overtake British Airways PLC's worldwide passenger load of 3.5 million a month. He expected Ryanair to be carrying 70 million passengers annually within the next five years.

"The very fact that a Mickey Mouse Irish airline can start in a field in Waterford 20 years ago and, in 20 years, overtake the world's self-styled, self-proclaimed favourite airline," he said, referring to British Airways, "is testament to the almost unstoppable demand for low-airfare travel around Europe."

Ryanair also announced it was selling 200,000 seats across its network for 99 euro cents or 99 British pence in celebration of its birthday.

Those fares, as usual in Ryanair promotions, exclude tax and other charges, meaning these tickets will really cost about 25 euros each way. RYA (Dublin) fell 2 euro cents to €6.15 ($9.75). AP

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