Ryanair has set a new annual record for passenger numbers after carrying 81.4 million people during 2013.
The Irish no-frills airline saw traffic grow by 2 per cent last year from 2012’s figure of 79.6 million. Ryanair has seen passenger numbers double during the last eight years – it carried 40.5 million people in 2005.
The carrier was boosted by a 4 per cent rise in traffic during December to 5 million with load factor at 81 per cent – compared to 83 per cent for the whole of 2013.
Despite the record passenger numbers, Ryanair was forced to issue two profit warnings during the second half of last year.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary has vowed to cut down on doing things that “p*ss people off” and the airline is due to introduce allocated seating from February 1.
Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: "Ryanair carried a new record of over 5 million customers in December, thanks to the success of our lower fares, easier to use website and customer service improvements.
“Further service improvements are due to be rolled out over the coming weeks and months.”
ryanair.com