(Alliance News) - European budget airlines Ryanair Holdings PLC and Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Monday said they carried more passengers last month than in February and a year before.
Dublin-based Ryanair said the number of passengers carried in March rose by 12% to 12.6 million from 11.2 million a year earlier. This also was up from 10.6 million in February. Ryanair's load factor improved to 93% in March from 87% a year before and 92% in February.
Ryanair noted that passenger traffic in March 2022 had been hurt by the start of Russia's war in Ukraine.
On a rolling 12 month basis, the number of passengers carried by Ryanair climbed 74% to 168.6 million from 97.0 million a year before. Load factor increased to 93% from 82%.
Budapest-based Wizz Air said it carried 4.3 million passengers in March, up 72% from 2.5 million a year before. This also was up from 3.8 million in February. The load factor improved to 92.2% from 86.2% a year before, but was down from 93.3% in February.
On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers surged 89% to 51.1 million from 27.1 million a year before, and Wizz Air's load factor improved to 87.8% from 78.2%.
Ryanair shares were down 3.0% at EUR14.48 on Deutsche Borse XETRA, while Wizz Air shares were down 2.8% at 2,890.00 pence in London.
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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Wizz Air (WIZZ)