Ryanair reports 15m passengers in May as summer bookings ramp up
Ryanair has reported that 15 million passengers travelled aboard its planes in May as summer bookings continue to ramp up.
According to the low-cost carrier, load factor – the measure of how well an airline fills its seats – has gone up to 92 per cent, 1 per cent above April’s levels.
Load factor is expected to gradually rise over the summer to reach between 94 and 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
“Bookings over the last number of weeks have continued to strengthen – both the numbers are strengthening and average fairs being paid through the summer are rising,” chief executive Michael O’Leary told Reuters.
Earlier this month, O’Leary warned travellers to expect higher fares during the summer because of an increase in demand for holiday destinations, especially when it comes to go-to destinations such as Portugal, Spain and Italy.
“Prices will be up by, I think, in the first quarter, they’ll be down on pre-Covid up to June, for the September-quarter at the moment, based on about 50 per cent of all bookings, we expect prices will be up high single-digit percent,” he said on 16 May.
Ryanair narrowed its yearly losses to £302m, 65 per cent compared to the £867m losses posted in the previous financial year.