Ryanair canceled 950 flights in a month due to the conflict in Israel
Dublin-based low-cost airline Ryanair reported that it carried more passengers in January this year, but had to cancel more than 950 flights due to the conflict with Israel and Hamas.
The company said it had 12.2 million customers in January 2023, up 3% from the 11.8 million people it flew in the same month last year. Although about 71,000 flights were launched during January, the ongoing conflict in Gaza forced them to be canceled, the Mirror writes.
The company's load factor, a measure of how well they fill seats on their planes, dropped from 91% to 89% compared to last year. Ryanair explained that the load factor dropped due to the removal of its flights from some "pirate" online travel agents in December.
Websites including Booking.com, Kiwi, and Kayak decided to remove Ryanair from their websites.
The airline had previously said that it "welcomed" the decision, as it had complained that the sites were selling its flights without permission. However, the airline warned that the move would affect ticket revenues as it is forced to cut fares to fill seats, leading to a lower profit forecast for the full year.
As TravelWise wrote, Ryanair ticket prices are expected to rise by 10% this summer compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the growth in passenger numbers will be less than expected due to the delay in the delivery of new Boeing aircraft.