Ryanair, Wizz Air August Passenger Numbers Reach New Records

By Pierre Bertrand

Airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air reported a jump in passenger numbers in August, bringing both airlines to new records as demand for low-cost summer travel continues.

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, said Tuesday that passengers grew 8% on year last month to 20.5 million.

The Irish low-cost carrier said the result was a new record after it operated more than 111,800 flights in the month. The company's August load factor, a measure of how full its planes are, remained flat at 96%.

"Ryanair showed it isn't having any problems getting bums on seats on its aircraft," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, in a note to clients.

Hungary-based peer Wizz Air, which focuses on eastern Europe, also reported record passenger numbers for August. Wizz Air said passenger numbers rose 1% on year to 6.2 million. The company's load factor improved to 95.4% in August from 94.1% a year ago, it added.

Given the August records, Irish brokerage Goodbody said that it suspects its passenger number forecasts for both companies for the second quarter appear light, analyst Dudley Shanley said in a research note.

Goodbody forecasts 17.2 million passengers for Wizz Air, and 57.6 million passengers for Ryanair for their respective second quarters.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 03, 2024 05:25 ET (09:25 GMT)

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