Ryanair targets quarter of European traffic within decade

ESSEN, Germany, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ryanair expects to be operating one-in-four European short-haul flights within the next 8-10 years, driven by expansion in countries such as Germany where it is moving in to take advantage of retrenching by rivals, its chief executive said.

Ryanair, which has around 380 planes on order, currently has a market share of about 14 percent in Europe. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) serves about 100 million passengers a year and aims to increase that to 160 million passengers by about 2024.

"We're going to grow across all the European markets. We'll go to a 25 percent market share over the next 8-10 years." Michael O'Leary said in an interview on the sidelines of the FVW travel conference in Essen, Germany.

Bolstered by growing passenger numbers and the sale of its 30 percent stake in Aer Lingus (Other OTC: AELGF - news) to IAG, Ryanair is considering plans for another share buyback and a special dividend. Another share buyback, following one of 400 million euros ($453 million) earlier this year, will likely be on the agenda at the carrier's annual shareholder meeting on Sept 24, O'Leary said.

($1 = 0.8821 euros) (Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Peter Maushagen; Editing by Jonathan Gould)