Aer Lingus chief executive Mr Willie Walsh today welcomed news that the company had turned a €52 million loss in 2001 to a profit of almost €63.8 million.
However, Mr Walsh said this was not sufficient progress to allow the carrier to relax.
The airline has warned that conflict in Iraq will have a significant effect on travel, but said it will be in a better position to cope than after the September 11th attacks.
The airline's turn-around was helped by the implementation of its survival plan, which included 2,000 redundancies.
Aer Lingus cut operating costs by more than 22 per cent, while increasing passenger numbers by 79 per cent.
It also focused on introducing low fares for leisure flyers. However with 40 per cent of its business coming from the transatlantic market, the company is braced for what it says will be a tough year for the air transport industry.
"We need to go further," Mr Walsh said today.
"The sort of operating margin that you see for 2002 at 6.7 per cent isn't enough for a business the size of Aer Lingus and for a turbulent industry.
"We set ourselves a medium-term target of operating profits in the order of 15 per cent and we see no reason why we can't achieve that with ongoing change.
"It is important that we continue to change, continue to address our cost base and actively lower our fares, and we have been very successful so far," he said.
But in the midst of the global economic slump and war in Iraq, airline management and directors all but ruled out any prospect of selling off the airline, or making some sort of deal to partly privatise it, this year.
"I don't think the timing at the moment generally speaking would be conducive to exercising that kind of operation," Chairman Mr Tom Mulcahy said.
Pressed to say whether he saw the situation improving this year, he said: "It's unlikely...In that context, I wouldn't say it's a good time to be bringing your wares to market."
PA