Ryanair’s passenger numbers fall by 50,000 in January on plane groundings

Ryanair passenger figures were down by 50,000 as the airline grounded up to 80 aircraft following the Christmas period.

But Ryanair’s Robin Kiely remained upbeat on passenger numbers.

“As previously guided, Ryanair’s Jan 2013 traffic fell by 50,000 [-1%] over Jan 2012 as we grounded up to 80 aircraft following the busy Christmas season.

He added: “However, Ryanair enjoyed another record 12-month period to Jan 2013, with almost 80m passengers choosing one of our ultra-low fares since Jan 2012.”

The news of the fall in figures came after it was revealed that Ryanair are offering to pay Flybe €100m to operate Aer Lingus’s routes in a last ditch effort to get EU approval for their take over of the former state airline.

Flybe “has reached an agreement in principle with Ryanair about the possible transfer of a number of aircraft and operating routes as part of a package of concessions Ryanair has submitted to the European Commission”, the Devon, England-based airline said.

The accord still requires board and shareholder approval, Flybe said.

The UK carrier would acquire 43 routes from Aer Lingus — almost half of its short-haul network — and more than 10 aircraft and associated crew under a binding agreement filed with the European Commission, according to two people familiar with the deal.

Ryanair would forego about €20m of Aer Lingus’s pretax earnings as a result, said the people, who asked not to be identified.

Meanwhile, Air France- KLM’s Dublin-based unit CityJet is nearing sale as its parent company whittles down the number of bidders to two.

The offers are for the entire business, including the CityJet name, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the process is confidential. The Paris-based company wants to have one financial bidder and another from the aviation industry on its shortlist, the person said.

“The Air France KLM Group is studying different options for CityJet as indicated in the past,” said Brigitte Barrand, a spokes-woman yesterday. She declined additional comment on the selection process.

Air France-KLM, which is Europe’s biggest airline, has been revamping its regional operations in an effort to end years of losses.

Its Brit Air, Regional and Airlinair are being folded into single unit HOP!, which was unveiled last month.