Ryanair passenger numbers increase 9% in September

In the 12 months till the end of September, the airline has flown 178.9 million passengers which is a 17% increase on the same period last year.

Ryanair’s passenger traffic in September grew by 9% to 17.4 million following four straight months of record-breaking passenger numbers.

According to the airline, in the 12 months till the end of September, it has flown 178.9 million passengers which is a 17% increase on the same period last year.

Between May and August, the budget carrier broke its own monthly passenger records four times culminating in it flying 18.9 million people during August. The company said that it expects to fly 183.5 million people during the 2024 financial year which runs to the end of March next year.

However, Ryanair has recently announced the cancellation of a number of flights over the winter period due to delays in the delivery of new planes from Boeing.

It has been expecting to receive 27 new aircraft from Boeing between September and December but this has now been reduced to 14 between October and December.

The reduction is due to production delays at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita, combined with Boeing's repair and delivery delays in Seattle.

As a result of the delays, Ryanair has said that it will be removing aircraft from a number of airports across Europe. 

Despite the reduction this winter, Ryanair said it still expects to hit its full-year traffic target.

Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, warned if the delays worsen or extend further next year “we may have to revisit this figure and possibly adjust it slightly downward”.

Ryanair said it is working with Boeing to try to accelerate deliveries in the January to May 2024 period so that it can enter the summer 2024 peak travel season with all the 57 new Boeing aircraft deliveries it ordered.