Ryanair boosts passenger numbers by 11 per cent in October despite 300 cancelled flights

Budget airline Ryanair saw an 11 per cent increase in traffic in October, as it carried 13.1m passengers.

The total includes 500,000 passengers from Lauda, the airline founded by former Formula One champion Niki Lauda and recently acquired by Ryanair.

When taking into account Ryanair alone, traffic grew 7 per cent on last year to 12.6m customers, with a load factor – a measure of how full an aircraft is – of 96 per cent.

The airline has endured a turbulent 2018 owing to its industrial disputes with pilots and cabin crew over pay and working conditions.

In addition to staff strikes, Ryanair said it was forced to cancel 300 flights last month owing to a five-day strike by Avia Partner baggage handlers at Brussels airport, poor weather conditions and Air Traffic Control shortages.

Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: "During October, we were forced to cancel just over 300 flights because of a five day airport handler strike at Brussels Zaventem, some adverse weather (winter storms) and continuing ATC staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France. We operated over 71,400 scheduled flights with over 80 per cent of these flights arriving on time, as Ryanair continues to deliver the lowest fares, with the best punctuality of any major EU airline.”