Ryanair’s recent run of sharp traffic growth slowed a little in November as it carried 11.2 million passengers.

While the figure was still 10% more than in November last year, it was only 2% higher than the 11 million Ryanair flew during the same month in 2019.

Milan airport

Source: Mikel Dabbah/Shutterstock

Ryanair passenger numbers over the first 11 months of the year are 5% higher than in 2019

The Irish budget carrier has, over a bumper summer season for demand, been outpacing 2019 passenger numbers by double-digit percentage levels. In October for example it flew almost 2 million more passengers than in 2019.

Ryanair and Wizz Air passenger numbers: 2022 v 2019
Ryanair20222019ChangeWizz Air20222019Change
 FlightGlobal analysis of company traffic results
November 11.2 11.0 2% November 3.7 3.0 23%
October 15.7 13.8 14% October 4.5 3.7 22%
September 15.9 14.1 13% September 4.6 3.8 20%
August 16.9 14.9 13% August 5.0 4.0 23%
July 16.8 14.8 14% July 4.8 3.9 23%
June 15.9 14.2 12% June 4.3 3.6 20%
May 15.4 14.1 9% May 4.1 3.5 19%
April 14.2 13.5 5% April 3.7 3.3 13%
March 11.2 10.9 3% March 2.5 2.7 -9%
February 8.7 9.6 -9% February 1.9 2.4 -20%
January 7.0 10.3 -32% January 2.4 2.6 -7%
Year to date 148.8 141.2 5% Year to date 41.5 36.5 14%

Ryanair’s load factor climbed five points on November last year to 92%.

The Irish carrier is, alongside budget rival Wizz Air, the first European airline to report passenger numbers for November. Both have been among the most aggressive European carriers in restoring and expanding capacity since the pandemic.

Wizz carried 3.7 million passengers in November – 23% more than it flew in November 2019 and almost 70% higher than the same month last year. Load factor stood at 88%, 12 percentage points higher than last November.