Budget carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air rose up the global rankings for passenger traffic last year despite the impact of Covid travel restrictions.
British Airways suffered an 80% plunge in passenger traffic, while Virgin Atlantic dropped by 83% – and also fell out of the top 100 largest airlines in the world.
BA fell from 12th position in 2019 to 30th in 2021 while Virgin Atlantic dropped from 50th to 105th last year.
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EasyJet was down from 18th position in 2019 to 40th in 2021, with an 78% decline in passenger traffic; Jet2 fell from 70th in 2019 to 97th in 2021, following an 76% drop in passenger traffic; and Tui tumbled from 52nd in 2019 to 112th in 2021, recording an 84% drop in passenger traffic.
The impact of the pandemic curbs is revealed by aviation analytics firm Cirium in its world airline passenger rankings for 2021.
Based on more than 600 operators in the Cirium airline database, the league table shows that world traffic at the end of 2021 was 57% down compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
Ryanair led the low-cost carrier revival, jumping from eighth position to fifth in the global rankings. It was the only European airline to make it into the top 10.
Rival Wizz Air rose from 31st to 19th place.
However, both airlines still saw a 34% and 33% drop in traffic respectively.
Cathay Pacific fell out of the top 100 ranking entirely following Hong Kong’s zero-Covid 19 strategy.
It plunged from 16th to 150th position after a 97% drop in passenger traffic.
Major US airlines took the top four slots in the rankings for 2021, with American Airlines staying on top again in 2021, followed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, thanks to the recovery in the American domestic market.
Overall, airlines in North America showed 75% growth from the low point in 2020, although still ending last year down by 40% on 2019 traffic levels, as measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres/Miles (RPKs/RPMs).
The total number of passengers for the year was 2.3 billion – about half of the volume in 2019.
Cirium chief executive Jeremy Bowen said: “Pre-pandemic, Asia Pacific airlines held the single largest share of global passenger traffic, with over a third of the world total.
“By 2021 the region was overtaken by North America, led by the strong recovery in domestic US flying.”
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