Ryanair adds fewest customers since March after lost flights

Ryanair added the fewest number of passengers in 6 months in September as the first of more than 20,000 flight cancellations prompted by a pilot shortage began to weigh on growth. The customer count rose by 1m to 11.8m, Ryanair said Tuesday, the smallest increment since the carrier added 900,000 passengers in March. The 9.2% advance is down from a near 14% jump last September, and compares with gains of at least 1.2m people over the prior 5 months. The airline said Sept 15 that it would scrap 2,100 flights through the end of October as it battled with a rostering “mess up,” before cancelling another 18,000 stretching into the start of next summer. The first weekend of disruption saw about 80 flights lost each day, with around 50 dropped daily for the rest of the month. <br/>