Ryanair passenger numbers climb to 14.8m in July
Ryanair’s passenger numbers grew to 14.8m In July, a nine per cent increase on the same period the year before.
Ryanair carried 14.2m passengers, while Lauda, the low-cost Austrian airline acquired by Ryanair, carried 600,000.
Read more: Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warns of job losses over Brexit and Boeing woes
Ryanair operated over 81,000 scheduled flights in July.
Despite the traffic growth, Ryanair has entered turbulent territory, having issued a number of profit warnings.
Last week Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warned staff that hundreds of jobs could be lost as the airline reels from a decline in earnings and the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
In a video sent to workers and seen by Bloomberg, the airline chief executive told staff that Ryanair needs 900 fewer pilots and cabin crew than initially planned due to the airline’s poor financial performance and the continued grounding of the Boeing 737, which has hurt its growth and cut flight numbers.
Earlier in the month Ryanair revealed that its profits had nosedived by 21 per cent in the first quarter, which the airline blamed on hikes in the cost of fuel and staff.
Read more: Ryanair boss blasts Boeing over 737 Max delays
Airfares also dropped considerably, as competition increased in Germany after Lufthansa bought Air Berlin and sold fares at below-cost prices.
In the UK, Ryanair blamed Brexit uncertainty, saying “concerns weigh negatively” on consumer spending.