Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
Rui Vieira/PA Wire
# up up and away
Ryanair has become the first airline to fly 100 million passengers in one year
A recommencement of flights to and from Belfast has also been announced.
RYANAIR HAS ANNOUNCED that it has become the first airline to fly 100 million passengers in one year.
Michael O’Leary’s company – famed for its economy travel – hit the benchmark after seeing 7.5 million passengers board flights in December, an increase of 1.5 million from the year before.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland earlier today, the company’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs put the upswing in business down to the company’s focus on customer service over the past two years.
“I think it is a testament we’ve made to improving the service and that we’ve kept Europe’s fares absolutely down for all our customers,” said Jacobs.
We love listening to customers now, we love innovating what we do, and we see more people choosing us here in Ireland and in every single market across Europe.
In a statement the airline said that lower fares in December on the back on the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks had resulted in greater customer numbers.
The airline also puts its success down to its high load factor throughout the year – a metric that measures how full each flight is.
Also announced today is that flights are set to start operating out of Belfast International. Routes had previously been operated through Belfast City Airport, but were ceased in 2010.
Travelers in Northern Ireland can now look forward to more convenient travel to London Gatwick, with a number of other routes expected to be announced later today.
Read: Ryanair is taking Google to court
Also: More passengers are complaining about Aer Lingus than Ryanair
