Record year for Ryanair with over 200 million passengers

Irish airline Ryanair ended its fiscal year with a record: for the first time in its history, it rounded the 200 million passenger mark. The airline says it is the first time a European airline has done so.

Based on passenger figures, Lufthansa, which includes Brussels Airlines, is the number two airline in Europe. That one carried 131 million passengers in 2024.

More passengers, more planes

The total number of Ryanair passengers was 200.2 million, 9% higher than in the previous fiscal year, when there were 183.7 million passengers. Low-cost carrier Ryanair’s planes were, on average, 94% full last fiscal year, which ran until the end of March.

Ryanair, which is based in Belgium at Charleroi Airport and operates flights to and from Brussels Airport, has repeatedly stated its ambition to increase the number of passengers to 300 million by 2034. To achieve this goal, it plans to expand its fleet from 609 to 900 aircraft.

More CO2 emissions

An additional consequence of the increasing number of passengers is that Ryanair’s CO2 emissions have increased in recent years. In 2023, for example, the airline emitted 15 Mt of CO2, 23% higher than pre-COVID-19 levels. Those emissions are equivalent to those from seven million gasoline cars in a year.

In March last year, Ryanair announced that it had purchased 1,000 tons of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) from Shell. The purchase followed the agreement made between the companies in 2022, providing Ryanair with unique access to purchase up to 360,000 tons of SAF from Shell between 2025 and 2030, which could save up to 900,000 tons in CO2 emissions.

Ryanair operates an extensive European network, encompassing over 3,600 daily flights to more than 230 destinations in 37 countries.