Ryanair carryings rose by 10% and budget rival Wizz Air by almost 4% in September as they reported a strong end to the summer peak travel period.
Passengers flown by Ryanair reached 19.1 million last month with a load factor of 94% as Europe’s largest airline operated more than 106,000 flights.
The September total gave Ryanair an 8% increase in annual carryings to 193.6 million.
Meanwhile, Wizz Air reported a 3.9% year-on-year rise to 5.76 million passengers with a load factor of 91.7% in the month – the strongest growth so far this year.
The eastern and central European low fares airline increased capacity by 4.8% despite Pratt & Whitney GTF engine-related aircraft groundings.
The airline has raised current quarter capacity by 1.2% to 19.11 million seats while year to date carryings have risen by 1.1% to 17.90 million.