Ryanair cancellations prompt slowest passenger growth since 2014

Ryanair’s passenger growth advanced at the slowest rate since 2014 last year after it cancelled thousands of flights to cope with a staffing crunch, sparking outrage among consumers and regulators. The 2017 customer tally was 129m, or 2m less than initially forecast, according to a statement from Ryanair Wednesday, with December’s performance the worst in close to four years. Ryanair scrapped 20,000 flights over Q1 2017 and the first months of this year following a botched rescheduling of pilot leave prompted by changes in labour laws. CEO Michael O’Leary has been forced to accept unionisation after the debacle gave crews increased bargaining power that led to the carrier’s first-ever strike.<br/>Ryanair’s annual passenger gain slipped to 10% from 15% in 2016, while the December advance was just 3%, the least since March 2014, putting the brakes on the carrier’s surge ahead of rivals. Wizz Air, Eastern Europe’s biggest discounter, reported a 24% jump in its 12-month count to 28.3m customers, up from a 19% jump in 2016. The Irish company still added more passengers at 12m, versus 5.5m at Wizz. Ryanair’s net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 suffered a rare decline as it shelled out E25m in refunds to more than 700,000 passengers hit by the cancellations, according to figures published Oct. 31.<br/>