05-08-2025
Ryanair carried record 20.7m passengers in July
Ryanair carried 20.7m passengers last month, a record number for July, despite French air traffic control (ATC) strikes.
The Irish carrier said on Tuesday that passenger numbers were up 3% from 20.2m for the equivalent period in 2024. Its load factor - which represents the average proportion of seat filled on its aircraft - was unchanged, at 96%.
Ryanair operated over 113,000 flights in July. Some 680 flights were cancelled mainly due to French air traffic controller (ATC) strikes. French ATC staff took industrial action on July 3 and 4 in a dispute over working conditions. The strikes distrupted Irish and European flights to and from French airports, while the walkouts also affected flights scheduled which travelled over French airspace, which meant many more disruptions.
European air traffic management body Eurocontrol estimated the strikes affected more than 1m passengers. Ryanair has urged European Commission president Ursula on der Leyen to take urgent action to reform EU ATC services.
Earlier this week, Ryanair published its data of Europe's worst-performing ATCs, namechecking France, Spain, Germany, the UK, and Greece and accusing them of inflicting avoidable delays "due to mismanagement and inexcusable under staffing".
"Neither the EU Commission nor national transport ministers responsible for these failing ATC services have taken any action to fix Europe's broken ATC services. In stark contrast, Countries like Ireland, Slovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium are delivering Europe's most efficient ATC services, which proves that well-managed, properly staffed ATC is not just possible but is already being delivered by many EU states," said Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary.
