Ryanair said today its flights were 87 per cent full in June - unchanged on last year despite the addition of new routes - helping boost shares in Europe's biggest budget airline by as much as 4.5 per cent.
John Sheehan, analyst at NCB Stockbrokers, said that while the numbers were no great surprise given Ryanair's upbeat outlook for the summer months, they did give investors an excuse to buy a stock that has been little changed in recent weeks.
"The traffic numbers were good but they had been kind of indicated already," said Mr Sheehan.
"I think the passenger numbers have also reminded people of the growth story at Ryanair."
Ryanair said its load factor, a measure of how well it is filling planes, was steady in June at 87 per cent compared to the same month last year and that it carried 3.67 million passengers in the month, up 23 percent from a year ago.
Shares in Ryanair got a lift following full-year results in early June but have traded in a narrow range around the 7-euro mark for the last three weeks.
Today they were up 3.2 percent at €7.40 by 2pm having earlier hit €7.49, their highest level since mid-April.
"The passenger figures seem to be the main driver," said one Dublin-based trader. "Despite them not being a hell of a lot different from what people expected, the stock price has been very flat of late."
Traders also pointed to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal today that said a number of analysts believe the stock has been unfairly punished by worries over the high oil price and that Ryanair "has the fundamentals to outperform".
"There's a Wall Street Journal article suggesting the strength of Ryanair's model," said one trader. "There's been buying interest on the back of that and people expect US investors to come in on the back of it."