European carriers report traffic lift in August, but caution remains over winter

Ryanair and Wizz Air both today disclosed their highest monthly passenger numbers since the pandemic hit, but concerns around travel demand in Europe for the winter remain as Jet2 flagged continuing slower booking momentum for the period. Europe’s largest no-frills carrier Ryanair carried 11.1m passengers in August. That marked a further improvement on the 9.3m it carried in July as travel restrictions within Europe were further eased. It also represents a 4m improvement on August 2020, the carrier’s previous post-Covid high point for demand prior to the latest round of border relaxations. However, the number remains almost 4m lower than the 14.9m passengers Ryanair carried in August 2019 before the crisis. Ryanair’s load factor of 82% was also its highest since before the pandemic. Wizz also Thursday reported its highest monthly passenger number and load factor since the pandemic. Wizz carried 3.6m passengers at a load factor of 84% in August.<br/>