Ryanair: ‘UK’s biggest passenger airline’ with ‘double BA’s traffic’?

In its 27-Aug-2025 announcement of its UK winter schedule, Ryanair said that it expected 60 million passengers in the UK this year, making it the UK's biggest passenger airline.

It also claimed that it would carry almost double British Airways' traffic volume to/from the UK this year.

These claims need some fact checking, but the broader truth is that Ryanair, and low cost airlines in general, have outpaced British Airways' growth in the UK over the past decade and more.

The ultra-LCC is seeking to present its very significant credentials in Europe's biggest aviation market, thereby amplifying the core message to the UK government: scrap air passenger duty and reform air traffic control, or we will slow our growth in the UK.