Ryanair August traffic, load factor rise

Budget airline Ryanair reported a rise in August traffic and its load factor on Thursday.

Passenger numbers jumped to 11.1m from 7m in August 2020, while the load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - increased to 82% from 73%.

The airline said EU Covid certificates are stimulating a recovery.

Broker Liberum said: "At 80% of the level of the equivalent month of 2019, this is the strongest period of recovery to date. QTD traffic is 20.4m, which implies 7-8m for September based on management’s guidance of 27-28m passengers for the current quarter.

"This would be only 51% of 2019 levels, which we believes implies upside risk to volumes, although recent commentary suggests this may be offset by average fare weakness."