RYANAIR FLEW JUST two million passengers in November as demand for air travel continued to be hit by coronavirus restrictions.

The Dublin-based airline said this represents an 82% decline from the same month in 2019, when it carried 10.9 million travellers.

The total number of passengers to use the carrier during the first 11 months of the year was 61.4 million, down 59% on the figure of 151.6 million during the same period in 2019.

Wizz Air recorded an 85% reduction in passengers in November, to just half a million.

During the month, its load factor – the average proportion of seats taken on aircraft – was 68%, compared with 93% in November 2019.

Airlines have blamed Covid-19 restrictions for putting people off flying.

Ireland has signed up to the EU’s new travel light system, which sees the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control publish a weekly map of the EU using a colour system to indicate the level of risk in each area.

Travellers coming from a red, orange or grey zones could be required to quarantine or take a test for Covid-19 when arriving into a country, while those coming from a green zone would not face any measures.