Ryanair traffic slumps 53% in August as Covid dents travel

Ryanair reported a 53% decline in August passenger numbers on Wednesday, with the budget airline operating around 60% of its normal schedule as the Covid-19 pandemic dented air travel.

Passenger numbers fell to 7 million from 14.9m in August 2019, while on a rolling basis, annual traffic was down 40% to 88.9m.

Ryanair said the August load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - was 73%.