Shares in budget carrier Ryanair hit a new high yesterday after the airline revealed it had added one million passengers to its December figures.
The Irish airline credited its new customer-friendly approach for the improvement in performance in the run-up to Christmas, as well as being able to offer lower fares.
Figures for December showed the airline carried 6.02 people last month, a rise of 20% or an additional million passengers on the same month in 2013.
In the year to December Ryanair saw a 6% increase in customer numbers taking the total to 86.4 million.
Load factors also improved to 88% from 81% despite Ryanair maintaining more capacity during this winter than previous years when it grounded more aircraft.
Shares in Ryanair jumped 3% yesterday to new high of €10.14, capping a recovery from last year when the airline was forced to downgrade profit expectations.
Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “Ryanair’s traffic grew… thanks to our lower fares, our stronger forward booking strategy and the continuing success of our ‘Always Getting Better” customer programme, which is delivering better than expected load factors in our significantly expanded winter schedule.
“With our new routes, increased frequencies, improving customer experience and Business Plus service, Ryanair continues to deliver so much more than the lowest fares in every market we operate in.”