• Ryanair Boeing 737
    Ryanair
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    FR/RYR
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport
    Year Founded:
    1985
    Airline Group:
    Ryanair Group
    CEO:
    Eddie Wilson
    Country:
    Ireland

Ryanair has proved that the pandemic is becoming a distant memory. In May, the Irish low-cost carrier handled more passengers than any previous month in its history. The airline clocked an impressive 15.4 million passengers across the 31 days, with a load factor of 92%, suggesting that there were few empty seats on the flights operated.

Around the world, the pandemic recovery is still varied between carriers. Asian carriers are still particularly suffering, with ANA not forecast to exceed 32% of the capacity it had planned to operate during 2020. Not everybody is still affected, though, as Ryanair has shown with its latest monthly passenger figures. 15.4 million passengers were carried during May 2022. This beats not only pre-pandemic figures but also any month in Ryanair’s history so far.

Full recovery?

The pandemic is firmly in the rear view mirror for Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. While group CEO Michael O’Leary initially expected the COVID pandemic to slow down after Easter 2020, it didn’t. Faced with hardly any passengers wanting to fly, Ryanair was operating a skeleton schedule in May 2020. As a result, the airline carried just 70,000 passengers that month. The 1.8 million passengers carried in May 2021 was a significant improvement on the worst pandemic months, but it still marked a disappointing month for the carrier.

Ryanair Passenger Recovery
Ryanair is carrying more passengers than ever before! Graph: Simple Flying

Now Ryanair is comfortably exceeding pre-pandemic passenger levels with its fleet of Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8200 jets. May 2022 was the third consecutive month where the LCC had exceeded the number of passengers carried during the corresponding month of 2019. May saw the most significant 2019-2022 increase yet at 9.2%.

What’s next for Ryanair?

As long as passenger demand remains, Ryanair will want to fly those passengers. Given that 2022 is shaping up to be the most normal summer since the pandemic began, it seems this will be the case. The Irish carrier also hasn’t seen some of the staffing and airport issues being experienced by its rivals (both full-service and low-cost), potentially giving it another boost.

It’s unclear how much further the passenger numbers will climb. However, Ryanair has increased its fleet size significantly through Boeing 737 MAX deliveries over the past year. With more planes, the airline can sell more seats, meaning that it can carry more passengers.

Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX on apron
9H-VUU can be seen hopping around the Mediterranean as far as Morocco. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

Its current aim is to reach 225 million passengers a year by 2026. Spread evenly across a year, equating to 18.75 million passengers a month. However, the industry's seasonality means that Ryanair carries more passengers in the summer than in the winter. As such, while the carrier’s figures for May are undoubtedly impressive, there is still a long way to go before the airline reaches its goals.

What do you make of Ryanair’s record monthly passengers during May! Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!