LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Ryanair, Europe's largestairline by passenger numbers, is backing a campaign to keepBritain in the European Union, its chief executive said onMonday.
Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate theterms of Britain's EU membership and has promised to hold areferendum on the topic by the end of 2017.
"We're very actively supporting the campaign to keep the UKin the European Union," Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Learytold a news conference.
"There's absolutely no doubt that the UK economy is betteroff in Europe than outside of Europe."
O'Leary said there was a need for a "reformed Europe",calling for a set-up with less regulation and "pettybureaucracy".
"We need the UK to stay a committed member of Europe just tokeep some kind of more sensible economic approach," he said.
O'Leary was speaking as Ryanair slightly raised its annualprofit forecast and said that it was on track to overtake budgetrival easyJet to become the UK's biggest airline in thenext 12 months. (Reporting by Sarah Young)
easyJet (EZJ)