Ryanair and Wizz Air passenger numbers dip as Middle East conflict axes routes
Ryanair and Wizz Air reported a dip in passenger numbers in October, as travel demand cooled and conflict in the Middle East caused carriers to axe a number of routes.
Wizz Air carried 5.4m passengers last month, down from 5.5m in September, while Ryanair’s traffic fell from 17.4m to 17.1m.
Figures for both budget carriers’ still came in higher than the prior year, with Wizz Air up 19 per cent and Ryanair seeing a more marginal 9 per cent rise on October 2022.
Load factor, the proportion of seats an airline is able to sell, held strong at around 93 per cent for both groups.
The dip came after Hamas’s invasion of Israel prompted a slew of airlines to cancel flights to the regions in October. Ryanair said today it had cancelled 870 flights so far due to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Wizz Air, which has suspended its operations in Israel until November 15, did not disclose cancellations or disruption as a result of the violence in its market update.
It marks a shift in fortunes for both Ryanair and WizzAir, which had reported record passenger traffic over the summer as consumers nourished pent-up demand for travel following years of lockdown.
The share price of a slew of budget airlines has tailed off in the last month, with the likes of Easyjet, Wizz Air and Jet2 all down. Wizz has fallen nearly 20 per cent.
Analysts are concerned that this years’ resurgent holiday demand will be unsustainable in the long-run, with the typically quieter winter months looming and corporate travel still lagging behind.