Ryanair and Wizz Air: Low-cost airlines record increases in passenger numbers

Its load factor – the proportion of seats that were filled with passengers – was 92 per cent, unchanged from a year earlier.

It came as Ryanair announced it had cancelled the lowest number of flights because of the Israel-Gaza conflict since before Hamas’s October attacks. It cancelled 800 flights last month due to the war, down from 950 in January.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air announced a 15.8 per cent rise in passenger numbers last month, compared with February 2023, to 4.4m. Its load factor was 90.0 per cent.

The airline said its load factor was “impacted by reallocated Israel capacity”, but did not give any details. It also flew more capacity than expected during the month.

Wizz Air said its emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for every kilometre it transported each passenger rose 5.1 per cent to 51.4 grams. Its overall emissions were 409,624 tonnes, an increase of 21.3 per cent on a year ago.

The company said: “Wizz Air continues to consistently report the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger/km among competitor airlines, with 52.0 grams per passenger/km for the rolling 12 months to 29 February 2024.”

The airline recently announced it would open a second training centre in Rome in May this year. It will be able to train up to 4,800 pilots every year at the site.

It also added two Airbus A321neos to its fleet in Budapest.

Last month, the owner of British Airways revealed it had notched up record annual earnings after cashing in on the bounce back in global travel demand. International Airlines Group (IAG) reported underlying operating profits of £3bn for 2023, nearly three times the £1.1bn recorded in 2022 and higher than its pre-pandemic peak.