Skift Take

Despite Europe’s largest airline smashing its all-time passenger record, don’t expect Ryanair to be any less vocal about the external factors impacting its business.

Gordon Smith

The largest airline in Europe has recorded its busiest month ever. In June, Ryanair carried 19.3 million passengers across the group, which includes subsidiaries such as Lauda and Buzz.

This was the first month in the company’s history to see more than 19 million travelers, comfortably beating the previous record of 18.7 million in August 2023. On a like-for-like basis, June 2024 saw 11% more passengers than June 2023.

Ryanair’s load factor, a key industry metric indicating the percentage of occupied seats on a plane, was unchanged from a year earlier at 95%. On average, this means Ryanair filled 19 out of every 20 seats it placed on sale for June.

Filling planes is critical for any low-cost airline, but especially so for Ryanair. During an earnings call in May, Ryanair Group CEO Micha