British airline easyJet (EZJ.L) said on Thursday it had reached a proposed deal with Airbus to expand its fleet by up to 257 additional aircraft, plotting its growth beyond 2028, with bigger and more fuel-efficient planes.

EasyJet announced the order after forecasting an annual profit of 440 million to 460 million pounds ($542-$567 million), and said it would restart its dividend, signalling that its recovery from the pandemic was now in full flow.

“Our strategy is achieving results and so today we have set out an ambitious roadmap to serve more customers and deliver attractive shareholder returns,” Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said in a statement.

The airline, which competes with Europe’s biggest airline low-cost player Ryanair (RYA.I) and British Airways, said it was targeting a pretax profit of more than 1 billion pounds in the medium term.

Bernstein analyst Alex Irving said it was “a very confident outlook”.

“EasyJet believes it has a road to much higher profitability than the street does. If they are right, numbers will need to come up,” Irving said.

EasyJet said the proposed aircraft purchase, which is subject to shareholder approval, would add 157 aircraft plus the rights to 100 more, with the majority being the larger A321neo planes for delivery between 2029 and 2034.

The airline said the terms of the deal with Airbus were attractive and it gave the airline certainty of aircraft supply. EasyJet, which only flies Airbus planes, said it considered Boeing as part of a competitive process.

The group said it also planned to convert an existing order for 35 A320neo planes into the bigger A321neo jets.

EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who owns a 15 per cent stake in the airline, has in the past disputed the need for the airline to buy expensive new aircraft.