Ryanair passenger numbers up 9%

No frills airline Ryanair saw passenger numbers rise by 9 per cent in the year to the end of January.

According to new figures released today, 4.44 million passengers flew with Ryanair last month, compared to 4.08 million for the same period a year earlier.

For the year ending January 31st 2010, 65.6 million passengers flew with the airline.

Ryanair said load factor - a measure of how well it is filling seats - rose by 1 per cent to 70 per cent in January as against the same month a year earlier.

On an annual basis, load factor was 82 per cent.

The airline also announced it is to introduce new services to Alicante, Barcelona (Reu), Bordeaux, Faro, La Rochelle, Lanzarote and Malaga from Cork airport in June.