Ryanair is planning to expand out of Europe with routes to Egypt and Libya, it has been reported.
Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers is in talks with authorities in the two African countries about operating flights there for the first time, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary has said.
Ryanair's only flights outside of Europe are to and from Morocco, Israel and Jordan currently.
The move comes after a period of aggressive expansion on the part of Ryanair in Europe.
In forging more links with countries beyond the Continent the airline is pitching itself against rival Wizz Air, which flies to Egypt and Morocco.
The Hungarian company has also been expanding into the Middle East, flying 36 routes from Abu Dhabi on its joint venture.
"We're talking to the Egyptians, the Libyans," Mr O'Leary told a Eurocontrol event, RTE reported.
Mr O'Leary reportedly told the room that Ryanair would be the first airline to start flights with Ukraine once again, once it is safe to do so.
Ryanair plans to grow from a record 168 million passengers this financial year to 185 million next.
At the end of the summer Ryanair announced plans to add 21 new routes from the UK this winter.
This included popular hotspots such as Lapland, Lanzarote and Rome, from a number of UK airports such as London Stansted, Manchester, Liverpool and Bournemouth.
In a sign of its continued expansion efforts, a week later Mr O'Leary announced that its Winter 2022 schedule for Newcastle Airport would include six extra route, bringing the total to 15.
It will add twice weekly flights to Barcelona in Spain, Cork in Ireland, Milan Bergamo in Italy, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria in Spain, and Riga in Latvia.
