Ryanair passenger numbers up 6% last month as load factor rises

Ryanair passenger traffic grew 6 per cent in January, to 9.3 million, compared with 8.8 million in January 2017. The airline said rolling annual traffic to January grew 9 per cent, to 129 million customers. Load factor – a measure of how full flights are – rose 1 per cent, to 91 per cent.

In December, following strike threats from members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association and equivalent groups in Germany, Italy and Portugal, Ryanair agreed to recognise unions. This week the carrier signed its first recognition deal, with the British Airline Pilots’ Association.