(Alliance News) - European budget airlines Ryanair Holdings PLC and Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported growth in passenger numbers in March, although Wizz Air's load factor fell back.
Budapest-based Wizz Air carried 4.8 million passengers in March, up 12% from 4.3 million the year before.
The load factor dropped to 90.8% in March from 92.2%. Wizz Air said this was impacted by "one-directional visual flight rules traffic during the Easter period."
Wizz Air restarted flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, in March with the initial re-launch of operations from six bases. Throughout April, May and June, further routes from the Wizz Air network will resume operations, it said.
On a rolling 12-month basis, Wizz Air said it carried 62.0 million passengers, up 21% from 51.1 million the year before. The load factor improved to 90.1% from 87.8%.
Ryanair Holdings said passenger numbers in March rose 8% to 13.6 million from 12.6 million the year before. The load factor was unchanged at 93%.
In March, Ryanair said it operated 77,000 flights, with almost 950 flights were cancelled due to the Israel and Gaza conflict.
In the 12 months to March, Ryanair said it carried 183.7 million passengers, up 7% from 168.6 million year-on-year. The load factor at 94% was up one percentage point from 93%.
Shares in Wizz Air fell 0.7% to 2,105.26 pence in London on Wednesday. Ryanair was down 2.4% at EUR20.29 per share in Frankfurt.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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