European airlines: top 12 LCCs and non-LCCs ranked by 2023 passengers. LCCs outperform
Europe's top dozen low cost airline brands carried 112 million more passengers than the top dozen non-LCCs in 2023.
In 2019, the differential was 26 million.
The top 12 LCCs collectively had 8% more passengers in 2023 than in 2019, whereas the top 12 non-LCCs' 2024 passenger count was still 11% short of 2019 traffic.
Ryanair, Europe's biggest LCC and biggest airline overall by passenger numbers in 2023, had more than twice the passenger count of the next biggest LCC - easyJet.
Both had more passengers than Turkish Airlines, the leading non-LCC in Europe.
This report ranks the top 12 LCC and non-LCC airline brands in Europe by passenger numbers in 2023.
- Ryanair was Europe's leading LCC in 2023, with more than twice the passengers of the number two - easyJet.
- Both had more passengers than the number one non-LCC - Turkish Airlines.
- Vueling, the fourth-ranked LCC, was the biggest of the legacy subsidiaries.
- Wizz Air had the highest percentage of 2019 passengers among the top 12 LCCs (152%).
- Nine of the top 12 LCCs carried more passengers in 2023 than in 2019; only two non-LCCs achieved this (Turkish Airlines and Iberia).
- The top 12 LCCs carried 108% of 2019 passengers in aggregate in 2023.
- The top 12 non-LCCs carried 89% of 2019 passengers in aggregate in 2023.
- The top 12 LCCs carried 112 million more passengers in 2023 than the top 12 non-LCCs.
Ryanair was again Europe's leading LCC in 2023…
Ryanair was again Europe's number one LCC brand, and also Europe's number one airline overall, by passenger numbers in 2023.
See related CAPA - Centre for Aviation report: Europe's top 20 airline groups by passengers 2023: Ryanair's lead is set to endure
…with more than twice the passengers of number two, easyJet
Ryanair's total of 181.8 million passengers in calendar 2023 was more than double the number-two-ranked LCC easyJet's 85.2 million.
EasyJet, in turn, had almost 25 million more passengers than Wizz Air, the third largest LCC brand in 2023, with 60.3 million.
Vueling, fourth-ranked LCC, was the biggest of the legacy subsidiaries
The IAG subsidiary Vueling, ranked as the number four low cost brand, was the biggest of the LCC brands of the leading legacy airline groups, with 36.8 million passengers.
The only other LCC with more than 30 million passengers was Pegasus Airlines, with 31.9 million, leaving a gap of more than 10 million to the other two low cost brands of legacy groups.
Air France-KLM's Transavia was sixth, with 21.5 million passengers, and Lufthansa Group's Eurowings was seventh, with 20.8 million.
Just behind them was Norwegian, with 20.6 million passengers.
Jet2.com, in ninth place, carried 17.3 million passengers (year to Sep-2023), while the Aeroflot subsidiary Pobeda completed the ranking of Europe's top 10 LCCs, with 13.0 million.
Extending the list to a dozen, SunExpress carried 12.6 million passengers and Volotea carried 10.4 million.
Wizz Air carried the highest percentage of 2019 passengers among the top 12 LCCs
Wizz Air carried 152% of its 2019 passenger numbers in 2023, which was a higher percentage than any of the other top dozen LCCs.
Five others carried more than 120% of their 2019 traffic: Volotea (137%), Jet2.com (135%), Transavia (129%), Pobeda (127%) and SunExpress (125%).
Three more also exceeded their 2019 passenger numbers: Ryanair (119%), Vueling (106%) and Pegasus (104%).
Only three of the top 12 LCCs carried fewer passengers in 2023 than in 2019: easyJet (88%), Eurowings (77%) and Norwegian (57%).
The top 12 LCCs carried 108% of 2019 passengers in aggregate in 2023
In aggregate, the top 12 LCCs carried 512 million passengers in 2023, which was 8% more than their 2019 total of 475 million and 16% up on the 2022 figure of 441 million.
Europe's top 12 low cost airline brands: by passenger numbers, calendar 2023
Turkish Airlines was the leading non-LCC by passengers in 2023
The chart below ranks the top dozen non-LCC airline brands by passenger numbers in 2023.
Turkish Airlines was again at the top of the list, with 83.4 million.
This is 1.8 million fewer than the number two LCC's 85.2 million (easyJet), but 23 million more than the second-ranked non-LCC.
The national airlines of four western European countries occupied ranks two to five: Lufthansa (60.3 million), British Airways (43.3 million), Air France (41.8 million) and KLM (30.3 million).
Russia's Aeroflot was sixth, with 25.2 million passengers, just ahead of Iberia with 24.0 million and SAS with 22.1 million.
Ninth placed SWISS, with 19.3 million passengers, was just ahead of 10th-ranked TUI's 19.0 million (year to Sep-2023).
The top dozen non-LCC brands was completed by S7 Airlines and TAP Air Portugal (both on 15.9 million).
Turkish Airlines carried 112% of 2019 passengers in 2023
Only two of the top 12 non-LCCs in Europe carried more passengers in 2023 than in 2019: Turkish Airlines, with 112%, and Iberia, with 107%.
TAP Air Portugal (93%) led a group of four that were at or above 90%, which also included British Airways (91%), TUI (91%) and SWISS (90%).
Four more were at or above 80%: S7 Airlines (89%), KLM (86%), Lufthansa (83%) and Air France (80%).
SAS carried 74%, while Aeroflot had the lowest percentage of 2019 passengers, with 68%.
The top 12 non-LCCs carried 89% of 2019 passengers in aggregate in 2023
In aggregate, the top 12 non-LCCs carried 400 million passengers in 2023 - which was 89% of their 2019 total of 442 million.
Europe's top 12 non-LCC airline brands: by passenger numbers, calendar 2023
The top 12 LCCs carried 112 million more passengers in 2023 than the top 12 non-LCCs
Not only did the top 12 non-LCCs collectively reach a lower percentage of 2019 passenger numbers (89%) than the top 12 LCCs (108%), but they also carried a lower aggregate total traffic figure.
Moreover, the margin of absolute superiority in passenger numbers of the leading dozen LCCs over their non-LCC counterparts widened from 2019 to 2023.
In 2019 the top 12 LCC total of 475 million was 26 million more than the top 12 non-LCC total of 449 million.
In 2023 the LCCs' 512 million was 112 million more than the non-LCCs' 400 million.
Europe's top 12 LCCs and non-LCCs: passenger numbers (million), 2019 and 2023
LCCs benefit from their greater flexibility and agility
The top dozen LCCs are increasing their lead over the top dozen non-LCCs. The differential of 112 million passengers in 2023 compares with 98 million in 2022.
In the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, LCCs have benefited from their greater flexibility and agility: they are typically more responsive to changing market conditions, deploying capacity where demand is strongest, and better able to stimulate demand with lower fares.
These characteristics have driven LCCs' outperformance in the recovery and are likely to remain advantages into the future.