Ryanair is flying with more empty seats

Ryanair’s load factor dropped 1% last month compared with August 2009, even though passenger numbers were up 12% to 7.68million for the month.

For the 12 months to August, the airline claimed it had carried 70.9million passengers, though this figure includes up to 1.45million passengers whose flights were cancelled when European airspace was closed during the ash crisis.

Ryanair’s load factor for the 12 months to date is 82%.

By Linsey Mcneill