Ryanair passenger numbers reach 17.1 million in October

Ryanair flew more than 17 million passengers in October, marking a 9 per cent increase in the number who travelled with the airline over the same month last year.

The group, which is the largest carrier in Europe, recorded 17.1 million passengers last month, up from 15.7 million passengers in October 2022.

The monthly figure for October was down from the 17.4 million passengers who flew with the airline in September, and a summer peak of 18.9 million passengers recorded in August.

Ryanair sold 93 per cent of its seats in October, down slightly from October 2022, when 94 per cent of seats were sold.

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Figures released by Ryanair on Thursday show that it had flown 180.3 million passengers in the 12 months to the end of October.

This was 15 per cent ahead of the 157.4 million passengers that travelled with the airline in the 12 months to the end of October 2022 – a period that would have been partly disrupted by pandemic-related travel restrictions.

The airline operated more than 96,700 flights in October, as more than 870 were cancelled due to conflict between Israel and Hamas.

In a trading update in July, Ryanair said that it expects traffic for the current financial year to March 2024 to reach 183.5 million.

While still an annual increase of 9 per cent, this is less than the 185 million passengers originally expected, with the estimate revised downwards due to Boeing delivery delays in spring and in autumn 2023.

At the end of September, Ryanair announced it was cutting a number of flights from its winter schedule amid delays in delivering Boeing aircraft.

Earlier in September, the airline also announced it was cutting its 17-route winter flight schedule from Dublin Airport, as well as reducing frequency on other routes and relocating a fleet of 19 “enviro-friendly” aircraft, amid a row with airport operator DAA more than charges.