Ryanair’s post-COVID-19 recovery continues, with the airline posting a passenger count of 10.6 million for September. While this is down from August’s 11.1 million, this is to be expected due to the end of the summer holidays. It still marked an impressive increase on September 2020.
Around the world, airlines are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. While August was an excellent month for many European airlines, numbers may possibly drop in the coming months. Winter is typically a quieter period for the airlines as children return to school, and many of Europe’s beach destinations lack the summer sunshine.
Traffic drops slightly from August
August was a blockbuster month for Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. The airline moved 11.1 million passengers across the continent. While not up to the airline’s usual summer standards, the month did outperform many pre-COVID-19 winter months. Moving into September, passenger numbers dropped by 4.5% to 10.6 million.
While some may rush to pin the drop onto COVID-19, it was actually expected that passenger numbers would drop from one month to the next. In 2019, for example, passenger numbers fell 5.4% from August to September. September 2021 is still looking good for the Ryanair Group. In 2020, the airline carried 5.2 million passengers, meaning that passenger numbers have doubled year on year. For comparison, passenger numbers only increased 58.6% from August 2020 to August 2021.
Ryanair far outperformed rival airline Wizz Air. Wizz Air reported that it carried just under three million passengers across the main airline and its subsidiaries for the same month. This was a 91.3% increase on the previous year, similar to the rise seen by Ryanair. The airline achieved a load factor of 78.4% for the month. Ryanair’s load factor sat slightly higher at 81%.
Hiring more crew
Ryanair is also launching a crew recruitment drive in the United Kingdom. According to the airline, as it copes with the increase in demand from passengers, it wants to recruit 200 new cabin crew members in the country.
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The airline is holding a walk-in recruitment day on Thursday in London to fill these positions. Training will take place across the UK. With the return in demand, tied with the delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, plenty of roles appear to be available.
Commenting on the hiring drive, the airline’s Deputy HR Director, Mark Duffy, said,
“We are seeking to fill more than 200 exciting new cabin crew roles across the UK. These exciting opportunities offer candidates the chance to secure the best cabin crew jobs in aviation and the chance to work with Europe’s largest airline, where hard work is rewarded with fast track career opportunities.”
What do you make of Ryanair and Wizz’s passenger numbers for September? Are you excited to see the Irish LCC launch a hiring drive in the UK? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!
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