Ryanair and Wizz Air smash passenger records as summer travel demand booms

Low-cost airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air have reported record August passenger numbers as travel demand continues to soar in one of the busiest summers ever.

Some 20.5m travellers flew with the Irish budget carrier in August, up eight per cent year-on-year and at a load factor of 96 per cent.

Its Hungarian rival carried 6.2m, up one per cent despite ongoing capacity restrictions stemming from problems with its Pratt and Whitney-supplied engines.

Ryanair’s rolling traffic total for this year now sits at 192m, also up eight per cent on a year in which travel demand rebounded spectacularly from Covid era lows. Wizz Air’s has risen almost 10 per cent to 62.1m/

The update will quell investor concern after Ryanair reported an unexpectedly sharp dip in quarterly profit in July, sparking a sell off in airline stocks including the IAG, Easyjet and Wizz.

The record numbers will not, however, stop a continual decrease in air fares, which chief executive Michael O’Leary warned at the time would be “materially lower than last summer.”

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, noted recent rumours the Irish businessman is mooting setting up a package holiday business, having seen the success of rival Easyjet’s holidays arm.

“Given this momentum, it’s not surprising that the business is thinking more strategically,” he said.

“As always, with Ryanair it is all about the income. Rather than set up a package holiday arm to please consumers looking for a more convenient way of booking a week in the sun, media reports suggest Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary sees a bundled service as a way of charging higher fares.”

Shares in Ryanair rose nearly 0.5 per cent by mid-morning, while FTSE 250-listed Wizz dipped slightly to 0.23 per cent.