Ryanair is flying towards new horizons. Over a one-year period, between March 2024 and March 2025, the airline passed the 200m passenger mark. This record was boosted by good results in March 2025, with 15m passengers in that month alone, an increase of 10% compared with March 2024.

Although Ryanair achieved its target, the company had to revise its ambitions slightly downwards, as it was initially aiming for 205m passengers. However, the delayed delivery of its 48 Boeing “Gamechangers” has forced it to reduce its traffic target. The company is due to receive 29 aircraft before the summer and has now set itself a target of 215m passengers for 2025. Thereafter, Ryanair aims to increase its passenger numbers by a further 30m by 2034.

This traffic on board its aircraft makes Ryanair the leading airline in terms of passenger numbers, followed by Lufthansa Group, which carried 131.4m passengers in 2024. Other European leaders include Air France-KLM (93.6m passengers, some 10m more compared to the previous year); Easyjet (83m passengers, an increase of 19%); and Hungary's Wizzair, which counted 60m passengers. Luxair has not yet published its figures for 2024, but in 2023 the Luxembourg airline carried more than 2.5m passengers. Furthermore, Findel airport saw 5m passengers arrive or depart in 2024, showing an upward trend.

All airlines combined, the total number of passengers reached a record high in 2024. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported total traffic up 10.4% compared to 2023 and 3.8% above the pre-pandemic level. The seat load factor had reached 83.5%, a record for a full year of traffic.

This article was originally published in .