2nd Sep 2020 08:56
(Alliance News) - Rival budget airlines Ryanair Holdings PLC and Wizz Air Holdings PLC both saw a sharp drop in passengers in August but recorded strong rebounds from July.
Ryanair's traffic in August dropped by 53% to 7.0 million passengers versus the 14.9 million passengers it carried a year earlier.
On a rolling annual basis to August, the airline said it carried 88.9 million passengers, down 40% from 149.2 million a year prior.
The Irish carrier said it operated about 60% of its normal August schedule, with a 73% load factor.
Despite August showing sharp declines, it represented strong growth from July, when the budget airline saw passengers crater 97% to 400,000.
Central and eastern European-focused Wizz Air separately reported an 41% fall in August passenger numbers to 2.4 million from 4.0 million in August 2019.
In a similar tale to Ryanair, Wizz Air's August passengers figure was a rebound from July's 86% drop to 502,253.
Capacity plummeted 20% year-on-year to 3.4 million seats from 4.2 million in August 2019, while the airline's load factor fell 25 basis points to 70.9% from 96.3%.
In July, Wizz Air's capacity was down 76%.
Available seat kilometres in August fell 19% to 5.54 billion, as revenue passenger kilometres plunged 40% to 3.98 billion.
On a rolling basis to August, passengers were down 29% to 26.7 million, while capacity fell 22% to 31.1 million. Load factor slipped 7.7 basis points to 85.7%.
More positively, Wizz Air opened 2 new bases in the month - both in the UK, with one in Doncaster and one at London's Gatwick airport - and has launched 33 new routes.
Shares in Ryanair were 1.2% lower in London on Wednesday morning at EUR11.69 each. Wizz Air was trading 2.3% lower at 3,655.38 pence.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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