Ryanair's August traffic up 59% month on month to seven million

[DUBLIN] Ryanair flew seven million passengers last month, up 59 per cent on July as it returned to a more regular schedule but still less than half the number it flew a year earlier before the Covid-19 pandemic hit air travel.

Traffic was down 53 per cent year on year after Europe's biggest budget carrier operated around 60 per cent of its normal August schedule.

It recorded a 73 per cent load factor, which measures how well an airline fills available seats, similar to the level in July.

The Irish airline last month decided to reduce its flight capacity by a further 20 per cent in September and October after a reimposition of some travel restrictions led to a weakness in forward bookings, particularly among business travellers.

REUTERS