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Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has insisted he still intends to set up low-cost flights to the US, and will do so as soon as he can buy a fleet of aircraft cheaply.

Chief executive O'Leary said the airline would have nothing to do with Ryanair, but otherwise rebutted the suggestion made last month by Ryanair chief operating officer Michael Cawley that "there is no more to low-cost long-haul than that it's a way for Michael O'Leary to enliven a press conference."

O'Leary said: "It is a real, live prospect. We are in discussions with airports." But he said nothing would happen without a downturn in the price of long-haul aircraft.

"We will wait for the next downturn in the industry and a fire sale of aircraft," he said. "We need serious airlines to go bust."

Speaking at the launch of Ryanair's summer 2008 schedule, O'Leary said the carrier would continue to grow at 20% a year up to 2012, but could not maintain such a rate and annual growth would fall to 10% thereafter.

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