Ryanair hits milestone as it carries 10m passengers in July

Ryanair hit a new milestone in July, carrying more than 10 million passengers in a month for the first time.

The airline said it increased traffic figures year on year by 11 per cent, reaching 10.4 million compared woth the previous July’s 9.51 million. Load factor, a measure of how full the flights are, increased 4 per cent to 95 per cent.

Ryanair's Kenny Jacobs said the increase was in part due to the airline's customer service programme, which is now in its second year.

Its annual traffic to July showed a 15 per cent increase to 95.3 million customers.

In July, the company reported profit after tax of €245 million for its first quarter, a rise of 15 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Passenger numbers were up 16 per cent to 28 million from 24.3 million.

The airline agreed last month to accept IAG's offer for its 29.8 per cent stake in Aer Lingus.