The Irish low-cost carrier saw traffic rise by 21% to 7.71 million during November as load factor increased by five percentage points to 93%. The rolling 12-month passenger total went up by 17% to 99.9 million.

Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “These record monthly numbers and load factors are due to our lower fares, our stronger forward bookings and the continuing success of our ‘Always Getting Better’ customer experience programme, which continues to deliver stronger than expected traffic and load factors.

“Ryanair customers can now look forward to more service enhancements, as we continue year two of our AGB programme, which includes our new car hire service, new website, new app, new cabin interiors, new crew uniforms, and improved inflight menus, as Ryanair continues to deliver so much more than just the lowest fares in Europe.”

Hungary-based low-cost competitor Wizz Air also saw a big surge in passengers during November with a 25.5% rise to 1.49 million, compared to the same month in 2014.

Over the last 12 months, Wizz’s traffic has risen by 21.3% to 18.9 million. Wizz recorded a load factor of 83.6% last month – up from 82.9% in November 2014.