Budget airlines record September passenger growth

Ryanair nudged up carryings by 2% in September to reach 19.4 million passengers.

 

The increase came as Europe’s largest airline operated more than 107,000 flights across the month.

 

Ryanair maintained a load factor of 94% year on year.

 

The September result saw the no-frills carrier raise rolling annual carryings by 5% to almost 204 million.     

 

Rival Wizz Air passenger numbers rose by 8.8% last month to more than 6.2 million.

 

The year on year rise came as the budget airline’s capacity increased by 7.6%.

 

This resulted in a load factor of 92.8%, up one percentage point compared to the same month last year.

 

The airline last month announced the closure of a base in Vienna by March 2026 in the face of “unsustainable cost increases” over recent years. 

 

Two aircraft will move to a new base opening in Bratislava, Slovakia by November 14 for this winter season - with each airport located within an hour’s travel from the other. 

 

Three remaining aircraft at the Austrian capital’s airport will be moved to other parts of the network by next March. 

 

“These changes are a clear example of management resetting Wizz Air’s network to develop lower cost airport options,” a statement said.

 

The September performance showed a 7% rise in annual passenger carryings to 66.6 million on a rolling 12 month basis.