According to Eurocontrol, which tracks air traffic in real time on the continent, the only companies to have returned to their level of summer 2019, before the pandemic, are low-cost companies. This ranges from the Irish Ryanair to the Greek Aegean, via the Spanish Volotea or the Hungarian Wizz Air, which claims itself as “ultra-low cost”! An exception, however, is Easyjet, lagging behind since it is penalized more than its competitors by the shortage of personnel affecting the sector.
In this spectacular low-cost rebound, we note the performance of Ryanair, which has emerged even stronger from the crisis. The group, which also operates Buzz, Lauda and Malta Air, even improves its offer by 12 to 13% compared to that of two years ago, or 300 more flights per day than before the Covid. In July alone, Ryanair carried almost 17 million passengers, almost as many as Air France in the first half.
This comeback of low-cost airlines this summer is explained tFirst of all by the attraction of southern Europe. Sun destinations such as Spain, Greece or Italy have all found their tourists, who very often travel on these companies.
The chaos in some airports due to strikes and lack of manpower, with its share of lost suitcases in recent weeks, has not changed anything. Low cost is also in a much better position than traditional companies, which are more present in long haul, which takes much longer to recover, as we can see with the health restrictions in Asia, especially in China.
And then there is the winning strategy of these low-cost companies which did not stop investing during the crisis, continuing to order planes. Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, and even Air France-owned Transavia have all expanded their fleets and opened new routes. Last large order to date, that of Easyjet, at the Farnborough air show at the end of July, for 56 Airbus A320s.
These companies can probably keep their lead so much did they increase their market share during the crisis. According to CAPA, the design office, their share of the pie in Europe would have increased from 41.5% to 47.3% in the space of two years, an unprecedented leap. In France alone, Ryanair has opened a fourth base at Beauvais, and Vueling has tripled its lines from Orly. Most of them are posting double-digit growth targets for the coming years.
The prize goes – once again – to Ryanair, which aims to increase to 225 million passengers transported by 2026, i.e. 50% more than before the pandemic, which would make the Irishman the world number one in transport. air.