Ryanair passenger numbers increase in 2017 despite cancelling thousands of flights

The Irish low-cost airline said its annual traffic grew 10 per cent last year to 129 million customers

Ryanair was forced to cancel 20,000 flights last year due to a shortage of pilots (Getty)

Budget airline Ryanair has reported an increase in passenger numbers for 2017, despite a scandal-hit year which saw it cancel thousands of flights.

The Irish airline said its annual traffic grew 10 per cent in 2017 to 129 million customers.

Traffic climbed 3 per cent year-on-year in December to 9.3 million, matching the previous month’s figure.

Meanwhile, its load factor – which gauges how efficiently the airline is filling its seats – rose one percentage point year-on-year to 94 per cent.

Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs attributed the growth to lower air fares.

Ryanair was forced to cancel 20,000 flights from autumn onwards due to a shortage of pilots and a problem with the holiday rota.

The latest traffic figures come a day after the airline said it was applying for a British operating licence to keep flying from the UK in the event of a hard Brexit.

Other airlines have made similar moves to make sure their operations can continue seamlessly after March 2019.

Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air, which operates flights across Central and Eastern Europe, announced it was establishing a British operation in October.

UK-based easyJet has also established a division in Vienna to allow it to keep flying across the EU.