Ryanair set for record year despite cancellations and seating controversy

Ryanair has seen its passenger numbers soar this autumn despite enduring a torrid few months of scheduling calamities and cabin crew revolts.

The budget carrier, which in September cancelled some 700,000 bookings after “messing up” its pilots’ holiday roster, saw its traffic rise 6 per cent in November, to 9.3million people, compared to the same period last year. Its load factor, too, rose 1 per cent, to 96 per cent, while the rolling passenger figures for 2017 year to date were at 128.7million, 11 per cent up on last year.

The figures put the Irish airline on target for a record-breaking year. Last year, Ryanair carried 117million passengers, but this year it could break 140million.

The numbers released today follow months of similar rises. In October, arguably the most disruptive month for the airline after its cancellation fiasco, Ryanair carried 11.8million passengers, 8 per cent up on the 10.9million in the same month last year.

In September, traffic grew 10 per cent year-on-year for the month, and 12 per cent for the year’s rolling count.

After the initial cancellation of 315,000 bookings due to mistakes scheduling its pilots’ holidays after a busy summer, Ryanair took the decision to cancel 400,000 more tickets over the winter to alleviate some of the pressure on its schedule and restore punctuality.

The move suggested the airline had over-stretched itself and needed a buffer to manage its growth better. At the time, head of marketing Kenny Jacobs said: “Our painful and deeply regretted winter schedule reductions have restored our industry leading punctuality.”

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The unchecked rise in passenger numbers is evidence the plan has worked, though it will have been helped by a marketing and sales campaign launched by the airline in the weeks following the scheduling announcements.

Today, Kenny Jacobs attributed the growth to lower fares.

“Ryanair’s November traffic grew by 6 per cent to 9.3m customers, while our load factor jumped 1 per cent to 96 per cent, on the back of lower fares,” he said.

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“Ryanair customers can look forward to even low fares when they make advance bookings for winter or summer, so there’s never been a better time to book a low fare flight on Ryanair.”

In addition to the customer backlash in October, the episode prompted a number of staff to denounce working practises at the airline, while the number of pilots on the carrier's payroll also came under scrutiny.

It followed a summer during which the airline was forced to repeatedly deny it was deliberately splitting up families in an effort to make more passengers pay for reserved seating.