The Irish airline said it flew 17.4 million passengers last month, up from 15.9 million a year earlier and 14.1 million in September 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Flights were on average 94% full in September, unchanged on a year earlier.

Ryanair expects traffic in its fiscal year to March 2024 to grow by 9% to a record 183.5 million passengers.

It set a string of all-time monthly traffic records over the busy summer months and Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said last week that current booking levels were around 4%-5% higher than last year.

However, it lowered that forecast in July from 185 million due to delays in Boeing plane deliveries and air traffic control strikes.

The low-cost carrier also warned last week that it may have to cut the forecast again if it faces any more delivery delays.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sharon Singleton)