Europe's top 20 airline groups by passengers 2025: Ryanair extends its lead over Lufthansa Group
Ryanair Group was again Europe's largest airline group by passenger numbers in 2025 - the seventh consecutive year it has topped the ranking. When it took the top spot in 2019, Ryanair's lead over second-placed Lufthansa Group was 7.2 million passengers.
In calendar 2025 Ryanair's 206.4 million passengers was 71.4 million more than Lufthansa Group's 135.0 million. The gap between the top two was more than the annual passenger count of all but the top six groups.
Ryanair carried 111.5 million more passengers than the next biggest individual airline brand - easyJet (also the number two low cost airline group). This gap was more than the annual passenger count of all but the top three groups.
Collectively, Europe's top 20 airline groups increased passenger numbers by 4.2% year-on-year in 2025, and were 8% above their 2019 traffic level.
The seven LCCs among the top 20 fared better, collectively carrying 26% more passengers than in 2019.
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