Ryanair has seen a significant recovery in passenger numbers, according to reports. The airline was forced to cut its flight schedule in recent months due to the impact of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. While bookings are now returning, the airline believes that fares will need to stay low for the time being to stimulate them.

When South Africa announced it had discovered the Omicron COVID-19 variant, there was a massive reaction worldwide. Many borders slammed shut to travelers from affected regions, or all together in some cases. While the variant appears to spread more efficiently, it seems more docile, leading to many countries undoing the snap measures.

Dramatic recovery

According to Yahoo News, Ryanair has seen a "dramatic recovery" in the number of new flight bookings being placed by passengers. This has primarily been driven by decreasing travel restrictions across Europe which makes up the bulk of the carrier's network.

Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, Coronavirus
O'Leary believes that load factors could reach 90% at the height of summer. Photo: Getty Images

The publication reports that the airline's CEO, Michael O'Leary, revealed that load factors across the airline group currently sit at around 75%, meaning roughly a quarter of seats remain unfilled. This is expected to further increase to approximately 90% in the summer. This would put the airline almost on par with pre-pandemic years.

Is 2022 the year of Ryanair's recovery?

While it's impossible to say what is to come, the current state of the industry suggests that this year could be the Irish low-cost carrier's best yet since the start of the pandemic.

Ryanair posted an increase in passenger numbers year on year in January and February 2020, though passenger numbers plummeted in March and were basically non-existent in April.

While O'Leary initially expected that COVID would pass by Easter 2020, this proved not to be the case. Ryanair carried 52 million passengers in 2020, down from 152 million the year before. The airline's best month in 2020 saw seven million passengers carried in August, but the number plummeted again as winter approached, and the Alpha and Beta variants appeared.

Ryanair Passenger Numbers (1)
Ryanair is starting 2022 a lot stronger than 2021. Data: Ryanair

Last year got off to a very slow start. This was partly due to the UK government's non-essential travel ban for much of the first part of the year. Passenger numbers shot up as soon as travel was back on the cards in June. In the first half of 2021, Ryanair carried 10.4 million passengers. It exceeded the first six months combined in each of August, September, and October, posting a passenger number of 62 million for July to December.

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Unfortunately, the Omicron variant meant that January was another subdued month for the Irish LCC. The airline carried 7 million passengers, down from 10.3 million and 10.8 million in 2019 and 2020. While this isn't the best start to the year that Ryanair could've hoped for, it's a lot better than last year. If the recovery continues as Ryanair expects, 2022 should be a healthy year for the Irish airline.

What do you think 2022 will bring for Ryanair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!