Ryanair followed yesterday’s profits warning by revealing that more than 400 flights were grounded last month due to two days of strike action.
The Irish low-fares airline blamed industrial action by pilots and cabin crew in five countries plus repeated air traffic control staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France.
Despite the disruption, passenger numbers using Ryanair grew by 6% to 12.6 million year-on-year in September with the load factor pegged at 97%.
Ryanair’s Austrian offshoot Laudamotion carried 500,000 passengers in the month.
Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “Ryanair’s September traffic, which includes Lauda traffic, grew by 11% to 13.1 million customers, while our load factor was unchanged at 97%, on the back of lower fares.
“Regrettably, over 400 flights were cancelled in September because of two days of unnecessary pilot and cabin crew strikes in five countries, and repeated ATC staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France.
“During the entire month of September, while we cancelled just over 400 flights, we completed over 68,000 scheduled flights with more than 80% of these flights arriving on time, as Ryanair continues to deliver the lowest fares, with the best punctuality of any major EU airline.”
Meanwhile, Wizz Air saw September passenger numbers exceed three million for the first time.
The central and eastern European budget airline carried 3.1 million passengers last month, up 17.5% from the 2.7 million flown in the same month last year.
The passenger load factor also improved year-on-year by 1.2 percentage points to 94.1%.
September’s carryings gave the Hungarian carrier a 22% boost in annual passenger numbers to 32.7 million.
The airline introduced a service to improve the speed of repatriating mishandled bags to passengers during the month and expanded its presence in Poland.