Ryanair lays on the charm and sells more seats
Budget airline Ryanair’s passenger numbers soared in April, jumping 16 per cent on the same month last year.
During April, there were 9m Ryanair passengers, up from 7.8m in April 2014. Rolling annual traffic was up to 91.8m passengers.
The Irish airline’s load factor, an industry measure of how much of an airline’s capacity is actually being consumed, was up seven per cent from 84 per cent to 91 per cent.
The results point to the early success of chief executive Micheal O’Leary’s charm offensive to improve the cut-price airline’s image.
Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the results were “thanks to our lower fares, our stronger forward bookings and the continuing success of our ‘Always Getting Better’ customer experience improvement programme, which continues to deliver better than expected load factors on our significantly expanded summer schedule.”
Jacobs added that the company would be launching a new website, and app, updating its cabin interiors, giving crew new uniforms and improving inflight menus during the course of this year.
The airline is also looking to cement its position by reducing fees, and by adding fare freezes and price comparison services to its digital offering.
In March, Ryanair launched a programme to boost digital innovation in the firm.
Ryanair shares closed up 1.28 per cent yesterday on the news.