Ryanair's Christmas bookings 'strongly ahead', with just 40% of seats available until new year

Average fares up mid- to high single digits, said chief executive Michael O'Leary

Budget airline Ryanair's Christmas bookings are slightly ahead of where they were at the same time last year, with around 40% of seats remaining to be sold until the end of December, chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday.

Budget airline Ryanair's Christmas bookings are slightly ahead of where they were at the same time last year, with about 40% of seats remaining to be sold until the end of December, chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday.

"Bookings for Christmas are running strongly ahead. At the moment, we're about half a percent ahead on forward bookings from where we were this time last year, and average fares at the moment are up sort of mid- to high single digits," he told a press conference at Vienna International Airport.