Ryanair handles record 72 million passengers in 2010
Ryanair handled a record 72 million passengers in 2010, representing growth of 10% from 65.3 million passengers in 2009. This result will no doubt enable Ryanair to retain its status as the largest international carrier by passenger numbers in 2010. In 2009, Ryanair was the largest international carrier in the world, according to IATA, with almost 24 million more international passengers than Lufthansa.
- Ryanair handled a record 72 million passengers in 2010, solidifying its position as the largest international carrier by passenger numbers.
- Ryanair was the fifth largest carrier worldwide by total passengers in 2009, surpassing major carriers like Lufthansa and Air France.
- CEO Michael O'Leary attributed Ryanair's success to the recession, as passengers became more price-sensitive and switched to low-cost carriers.
- Ryanair experienced weather-related disruptions in December 2010, affecting around 4.3 million passengers.
- Ryanair reported a new monthly record of over 7.7 million passengers in August 2010, with the busiest day seeing more than 255,000 passengers flying.
- While Ryanair's growth is expected to slow down, the airline plans to continue expanding its fleet and passenger numbers in the coming years.
Largest international carriers by passenger number: 2009
Ryanair was the fifth largest carrier worldwide by total passengers in 2009, behind only Southwest, American, Delta and China Southern and significantly ahead of United, Lufthansa and US Airways. Ryanair handled around 12 million more passengers than Lufthansa and 17 million more passengers than Air France in 2009.
Largest carriers by passenger number (domestic and international): 2009
CEO Michael O'Leary has continuously stated the carrier has benefitted from the recession. "The old analysis is that in a recession people stop flying, or fly less. In fact it's not true. They just become much more price sensitive and switch off the high-fare carriers and on to Ryanair," he said. The carrier added that it expects to continue to gain market share across Europe from the "big three" network carriers - Air France-KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa.
Around 4.3 million pax in weather-affected Dec-2010
Ryanair handled 67.7 million passengers in the 11 months to Nov-2010, representing year-on-year growth of 12.1%. This implies that around 4.3 million passengers were handled in Dec-2010, in a month that saw carriers' affected by snow-related cancellations at various European airports. Dec-2010 traffic data has yet to be released by the carrier.
Ryanair fleet and passenger growth : 2009 vs 2010
Month |
2009 pax |
2010 pax |
Rolling 12 months pax |
2009 load Factor |
2010 load factor |
Rolling 12 month LF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January |
4,075,531 |
4,438,287 |
65,644,800 |
69% |
70% |
82% |
February |
4,128,368 |
4,372,353 |
65,888,785 |
78% |
75% |
82% |
March |
4,698,067 |
5,313,281 |
66,503,999 |
77% |
79% |
82% |
April |
5,281,247 |
6,179,309 |
67,402,061 |
82% |
83% |
82% |
May |
5,513,360 |
6,470,111 |
68,358,812 |
81% |
81% |
82% |
June |
5,836,355 |
6,713,559 |
69,236,016 |
85% |
84% |
82% |
July |
6,725,066 |
7,607,428 |
70,118,378 |
89% |
88% |
82% |
August |
6,883,814 |
7,681,485 |
70,916,049 |
90% |
89% |
82% |
September |
6,119,510 |
6,841,547 |
71,638,086 |
85% |
86% |
82% |
October |
6,162,799 |
7,024,838 |
72,500,125 |
85% |
85% |
82% |
November |
4,961,949 |
5,060,424 |
72,598,600 |
80% |
80% |
82% |
December |
4,895,978 |
|||||
Total |
65,282,044 |
Approx 72,000,000 |
Also in 2010, Ryanair reported a new monthly record of more than 7.7 million passengers in Aug-2010. The busiest day of travel for Europe's largest LCC was on 30-Jul-2010 when more than 255,000 passengers flew on 1400 Ryanair services. The busiest booking day was 26-Apr-2010 when 310,000 bookings were made on the carrier's website.
Pax and fleet growth slowing but off a large base
Ryanair's growth trajectory is expected to continue albeit at a slower pace, with 2010 likely to mark the last calendar year of double-digit traffic growth.
Ryanair passenger numbers (mill) and passenger growth (%): 2003 to 2014
Ryanair, upon the release of its 1HFY2011 financial results in Nov-2010, had stated it expected to report passenger growth of 11% in FY2011 (12 months to Mar-2011) to approximately 73.5 million before growth slows to the single digits. However, Ryanair stated it would continue it growth trajectory, adding 6.5 million passengers in FY2012 and 5.0 million passengers in FY2013. This would represent fleet and traffic growth of 28% by 2013.
Ryanair fleet and passenger growth
FY to Mar |
Total fleet |
Disposals |
Pax traffic |
Pax growth |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 |
232 |
-3 |
66.5m |
+14% |
2011 |
272 |
-10* |
73.5m |
+11% |
2012 |
294 |
-3* |
80.0m |
+9% |
2013 |
299 |
-10* |
85.0m |
+6% |
Meanwhile, the carrier, also in Nov-2010, raised its full-year profit outlook with the carrier now expecting to exceed the upper end of its previous forecast range of EUR350 million to EUR375 million, to report a profit of EUR380-400 million subject to 4Q yields.