(Sharecast News) - Budget airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air on Friday posted large increases in June passenger numbers on the back of a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in some countries.
Ryanair said it flew around 5.3m passengers in June, from 400,000 during the same month last year and 1.8m in May, when most flights were grounded because of the pandemic. The load factor, or number of people on board, was 72% on 38,000 flights.
The airline has flown 8.1m passengers in the first quarter with a load factor of 73%.
Wizz Air said passenger numbers for June to more than 1.5m from 962,000 a year ago. Flights were around 64% full.
The Eastern Europe-focused carrier also announced opening of its sixth Italian base in Naples, offering 18 new international and domestic routes. The airline said it would base two Airbus A321 aircraft at Naples airport in August and September.
Wizz said it was allocating an additional A321 aircraft to its Tirana base in Albania, adding two new routes to Barcelona, Spain and Cologne, Germany from July.
Passenger numbers are still well below levels before the pandemic hit the industry early in 2020. In June 2019, 14.2m people flew with Ryanair, while 3.6m took to the skies with Wizz.