Passenger numbers at Ryanair fell in January, as the airline grounded up to 80 airlines following the busy Christmas period.
Last month Ryanair carried some 4.35 million passengers, a decline of 1 per cent or some 50,000 passengers, on the same month in 2012. Its load factor however, at 71 per cent, was stable on January 2012.
Comparing December 2012 with January 2013, almost 500,000 fewer passengers were carried, a decline of some 10 per cent.
In the 12 months to January 2013, the airline carried close to 80 million passengers, reporting a load factor of 82 per cent.
"As previously guided, Ryanair's January 2013 traffic fell by 50,000 (-1%) over January 2012 as we grounded up to 80 aircraft following the busy Christmas season. However, Ryanair enjoyed another record 12-month period to January 2013, with almost 80m passengers choosing one of our ultra-low fares since January 2012," Robin Kiely, communications manager with the airline, said.