Shares hit by dip in load factor

RYANAIR shares closed down 5.5%, yesterday despite the airline announcing a 15% rise in the number of passengers flown in April.

The carrier said it flew 4.72 million people in April, an increase on the 4.11m flown in April 2007. Over the 12 months to the end of April 2008 it carried 51.58m. But its shares slipped 18 cent to €2.98 as it said that flights were less full in April compared with a year ago, and it also suffered from the continued rise in the price of oil. The airline’s load factor, or the amount of seats per flights are filled, declined to 79% from 83% a year earlier.

Meanwhile, British Airways’ passenger numbers dipped last month as the airline dealt with the shambolic opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 (T5). BA, run by former Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh, carried 2.59m passengers in April 2008, a 7.9% fall on the April 2007 total.