European budget carrier Ryanair carried over 160 million passengers in the 2022 calendar year, 5% more than it flew during the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Ryanair closed the year carrying 11.5 million passengers in December, 3% up on same month of 2019, at a load factor of 92%.
It meant Ryanair outstripped 2019 passenger levels in all but the first two months of the year, when it cut capacity in response to fresh travel restrictions and concerns posed by the Omicron variant.
| Month | 2022 (m) | 2019 (m) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| FlightGlobal analysis of Ryanair traffic data | |||
| December | 11.5 | 11.2 | 3% |
| November | 11.2 | 11.0 | 2% |
| October | 15.7 | 13.8 | 14% |
| September | 15.9 | 14.1 | 13% |
| August | 16.9 | 14.9 | 13% |
| July | 16.8 | 14.8 | 14% |
| June | 15.9 | 14.2 | 12% |
| May | 15.4 | 14.1 | 9% |
| April | 14.2 | 13.5 | 5% |
| March | 11.2 | 10.9 | 3% |
| February | 8.7 | 9.6 | -9% |
| January | 7.0 | 10.3 | -32% |
| Year to date | 160.4 | 152.4 | 5% |
The 160.4 million passenger total is more than double the number Ryanair carried in Covid-hit 2021 and 8 million more than it flew in the 2019 calendar year.
Ryanair in November upped to 168 million the number of passengers it expects to fly in its financial year, which runs to March 2023 and therefore does not include the first three months of 2022 which were more deeply affected by Covid restrictions.
The Irish airline, together with Wizz Air – which increased passengers 15% in the 2022 calendar year versus 2019 – has been the most aggressive in returning and expanding capacity among European carriers since the pandemic.
While that in part reflects their lack of long-haul operations, which on Asian routes have been been challenged by slow market reopenings and longer routings because of the closure of Russian airspace, Eurocontrol data shows Ryanair and Wizz were the only two out of Europe’s 10 biggest operators in 2022 to fly more than in 2019.
