Workers for low-cost airline Ryanair, which operates out of Stansted Airport, are set to receive a share windfall.

Up to 1,000 Ryanair workers at Stansted could receive an average of £18,000 each when shares they were awarded mature next month.

The budget airline was floated on the stock market in 1997 and since 1998 some 10 million share options have been awarded to workers.

These options will be worth an estimated £21 million when they mature after a five-year period in June.

A spokesman for Ryanair said the main beneficiaries would probably be pilots.

He said share options were open to all permanent staff who had been with the company for at least a year, although the amount they receive will depend on their length of service, the position they hold and their salary.

But in general, staff stand to make an average profit of £18,000 to £21,500.

Published Tuesday, May 27, 2003

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