Low fares airline Ryanair expects a higher fuel bill this year but higher average fares and a 20% increase in passengers would offset rising oil prices.

At a Reuters news forum today, Chief Financial Officer Howard Millar said that the company would continue expanding aggressively, with up to three new bases planned in Europe this year and a deal was close to introduce in-flight gambling.

Millar said that the airline, whose hedging from rising oil prices expires this week, faced another challenging year with fuel set to account for 38% of total costs.

"Our view will be that we will pretty much stay where we are. Fares will rise a bit, fuel prices will be up a bit and we should sustain some kind of reasonable margin," Millar said in Dublin today.

He said that next year fuel will account for around 38% of the airline's cost base.

Millar said Ryanair would not resume hedging fuel costs until the oil price fell well below $60 per barrel. He said the airline expected a similar pattern to last year when it entered the busy summer season unhedged and depended on higher average fares to offset the additional cost.