Ryanair said today it sold 2.1 million seats in August, but load factor fell from 95 to 90 per cent as the company's strategy of opening new routes started to adversely affect capacity.
In August 2003, Ryanair sold 2,141,664 seats compared to 1,487,976 in the same month last year of which 94 per cent were bought online. In the 12 months to August 31st, 2003, Ryanair said it sold 18,563,639 seats.
Load factor is the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available for passengers. As the company opens more routes to new destinations, load factor at least in the short run is likely to fall as new planes are added to the airline's roster.
The seat sales figures released by Ryanair represent the number of seats sold whether or not the passenger actually avails of the seat, which is non-refundable under Ryanair's rules.
Once a Ryanair flight has departed a no-show customer is not entitled to change flights or seek a refund.