Ryanair saw passenger numbers drop by 8% last month as the no-frills carrier introduced the first capacity cuts in its history.
The airline carried 4.68 million passengers in November, down from 5.06 million a year earlier. Ryanair has carried 76.7 million passengers this year and its load factor was maintained at 80% in November.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said in May that the airline would ground 80 of 300 aircraft for the winter season as higher fuel costs made parts of its network unprofitable. A spokesman said: “As previously guided, Ryanair’s 2011-12 winter traffic will decline by approximately 4% as we sit up to 80 aircraft on the ground due to higher oil prices.”
Meanwhile, British Airways and Iberia parent International Airlines Group said passenger numbers dropped by 117,000, or 2.9%, to 3.8 million last month. The biggest fall was incurred in its domestic markets in the UK and Spain, which were down by 13.2% to 875,000.
IAG said the group’s premium traffic grew by 4.6% year on year while economy grew by 1.6%.