Ryanair has handled over 167 million passengers in the last 12 months as well as offering a consistent load factor of 93%.
This was revealed in the carrier’s February 2023 passenger numbers, where the airline handled 10.6 million passengers in a single month.
For Ryanair, the last 12 months saw the carrier increase passenger numbers by 93% compared to the same period last year at 167.2 million.
Movement Numbers Drop 10%: Ryanair Still Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels…
Despite strong numbers, Ryanair’s movement numbers have dropped 10% this week but are still exceeding pre-pandemic levels, which solidifies the carrier’s strong position currently.
For February 26-March 5, the Irish low-cost carrier operated 1,940 flights based on a seven-day rolling average provided by RadarBox.com.
This represents a decrease of 10.06% compared to the same period last year but is still 95 movements ahead of pre-pandemic levels (2019).
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data provided by Ryanair’s operations:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| January 29-February 5 | 1829 movements | 1889 movements | 2133 movements | +12.92% |
| February 5-12 | 1811 movements | 2005 movements | 2138 movements | +6.63% |
| February 12-19 | 1844 movements | 2013 movements | 2144 movements | +6.51% |
| February 19-26 | 1849 movements | 1978 movements | 2149 movements | +8.65% |
What we can see from the data is that the carrier is outperforming 2019 levels and looks set to continue this momentum into the Summer 2023 season.
Ryanair’s Recent Announcements…
February was a busy month for Ryanair, with multiple announcements made as they gear up for the Summer 2023 season.
At the start of that month, the Irish low-cost carrier announced plans to launch 19 routes from the Portugal region.
Later on that week, Ryanair announced plans to grow out of its Edinburgh base, with six new routes announced.
Ryanair also announced its plans to run a summer schedule between Northern Ireland’s second-largest city, Londonderry (Derry), and the UK’s ‘Northern Capital’, Manchester.
Additionally, a Belfast service was also announced from its Cardiff base as well.
Finally, Ryanair announced plans to expand routes out of Aberdeen and Glasgow, which you can view here.
Summer 2023 Will Be A Successful Year…
Based on the strong numbers that Ryanair has already, it will come as no surprise that the Summer 2023 season will be another successful period for the carrier.
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on the Irish low-cost carrier to see how much of their operations they will be able actually to operate, given the past traditions of ATC & airline/airport strikes across Europe.
Even so, whatever disruption comes in the way of Ryanair’s operations, it can be assumed that record numbers will be achieved.
But for now, all eyes are now on Ryanair to see how much further it can take its annual passenger numbers, and as the fleet grows month-on-month, the airline will not be far away from achieving 200 million passengers annually.
