Ryanair traffic soars despite challenging results

Ryanair’s traffic grew nine per cent year-on-year last month as passenger numbers hit 10.9m in March.

Traffic is nine per cent up over all this year, as the rolling annual total is 132.1m, up from 130.3m in the year to March 2018.

Read more: O'Leary hopes to 'reboot' Ryanair reputation by taking a step back

However, growth slowed in comparison to February, when passenger numbers increased by 13 per cent.

The news comes after the budget airline swung to a loss in the third quarter of its financial year, blaming the poor performance on weaker ticket prices.

In the quarter to 31 December last year passenger numbers grew eight per cent to 32.7m and revenue grew nine per cent to €1.53bn, however lower ticket prices drove the firm to a €19.6bn loss compared to a €105.6m profit the previous year.

Read more: Will Ryanair gain from turbulent O’Leary moving aside?

Last month chief executive Michael O’Leary announced he will step back from the day-to-day running of the budget airline, giving the company a chance to “reboot” public perception after “disappointing” profit announcements.