Even though the summer has only just started, Ryanair has already recorded its busiest-ever month during June. With 19.3 million passengers having booked tickets for its flights, numbers are up by nearly 11% compared to last year.
For the Dublin-based low-cost airline, which is Europe’s biggest in terms of passenger numbers, it was the first time in its 40-year existence that more than 19 million passengers were transported in one single month. The former record dates from August 2023, when 18.9 million were recorded. The load factor, indicating the percentage of occupied seats on a plane, remained at 95%, just like one year ago. The numbers are based on flights throughout the entire region in which Ryanair is active, meaning Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Added to this the budget airline says that it has broken the 55 million passenger mark at Alicante-Elche airport since starting flights there in 2007. The first flight was from Alicante to London-Stansted and the airline is predicting ‘great passenger occupancy’ for its summer schedule at the airport, with 16 aircraft based at the airport, which is three more than last year.
Over the last 12 months, the Ryanair group of airlines (including Buzz, Lauda Europe, Malta Air, and Ryanair UK) has now transported 188.8 million people. During the same period in 2022-2023, this number was down to 173.4 million or about 9% less. For the financial year ending in March 2025, the group expects to transport between 198 million and 200 million people.
That number could change however, depending on the delivery of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, currently suffering from delays. At the moment, Ryanair has around 20 Boeing planes less in its fleet than previously expected for the 2024 summer season.