RYANAIR, now conducting pre flight checks for new destinations in Europe, is revving up its growth engines to achieve a target of 25 per cent year on year growth. The 15 month period to the end of March 1995 was highly productive, with the group returning pre tax profits of nearly £5 million on turnover of £99 million. Passenger numbers in the period almost doubled to 2.1 million.

The airline is talking with the banks to fund the acquisition of aircraft to carry the group's growth strategy into Europe. Ryanair intends to service as yet unspecified European cities from London's Stansted Airport and is also seeking to operate European routes from Dublin, a development contingent on the contentious issue of Aer Rianta landing charges.

Chairman Dr Tony Ryan said that the airline, which currently plies 14 destinations with 11 aircraft, is operating at 75 per cent of its load capacity. Passenger numbers are expected to grow to over three million in the current year.

Accompanying the results came news of a change of key personnel on the management flight deck. Dr Ryan, whose family interests control 80 per cent of the equity, is handing over the chairman's controls to David Bonderman, the American financier who headed the consortium which purchased 20 per cent of the airline.