Originally Posted by loveJet
Although that is the correct definition for 'passengers' i think you'll find that the definition for 'load factor' is some-what different, taking into account no-shows, giving an actual on-board (at the time of flight) stat.
I'm not sure about that. If you follow the link I gave above, you'll see that Ryanair first defines "passengers" (i.e. as those booked rather than those actually flown), but then goes on to define "load factor" as "number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available for passengers". It would seem to me that this is therefore "earned load factor" rather than "flown load factor".
I also make this assertion based on the well-tested empirical principle that if there are two possible ways of presenting data (even if one involves redefining words), Ryanair will invariably choose the one which makes them look better.
Incidentally, note the Ryanair definition of "load factor" - the denominator is "number of seats available for passengers" rather than "number of seats". That means that if the flight is capped at 156 seats out of 189 (e.g. due to short runway) and 156 tickets are sold, the load factor is reported as 100%. This may be true in a very narrow sense, but not in the general meaning of the term (which would consist of saying "we can't sell more than 80% of the seats due to performance constraints, so the load factor is effectively capped at 80%.") See "empirical principle" above...
