Ryanair passengers exceed 18m in July

The number of passengers carried in July by Ryanair exceeded 18 million for the first time in its history, Europe's largest budget airline reported on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

In July, Ryanair operated over 102,000 flights, carrying a total of 18.7 million passengers, the airline said in a statement, adding that the number of passengers handled in the month represented an 11-percent increase year-on-year.

Over 800 flights were cancelled in July mainly due to third party strikes. The load factor or the occupancy rate for July averaged 96 percent, remaining the same as a year ago.

In late July, Ryanair published a report on its performance in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year, which extends from April 1, 2023, till March 31, 2024.

The report said that in the April-June period of this year Ryanair handled 50.4 million passengers, up 11 percent compared with the same period in 2022.

Ryanair's Q1 revenue and net profit reached 3.65 billion euros (4 billion U.S. dollars) and 663 million euros, up 40 percent and 290 percent respectively when compared with the April-June period last year, it said.

Established in 1984 in Ireland, Ryanair is a low-cost airline which mainly operates short-haul flights in Europe and parts of North Africa.