Europe's two biggest low-cost groups both carried more passengers in September 2026, but their traffic reports, released on 2 October, show very different growth speeds. Ryanair flew 20.1 million guests, up 4% year on year, while Wizz Air carried 7.78 million passengers, a jump of 24.2%.
Ryanair: steady growth despite more than 1,000 cancellations
Ryanair's September total compared with 19.4 million a year earlier, and its load factor held at 94%, unchanged from September 2025. The group operated more than 111,700 flights during the month. It cancelled over 1,000 flights, which it blamed on "another UK ATC system collapse, Belgian ATC strikes and Mount Etna eruptions."
On a rolling 12-month basis, Ryanair carried 215.1 million guests, up 5% from 203.9 million, again with a 94% load factor. The airline's published key statistics put September punctuality at 89%, slightly better than the 88% recorded in August. Ryanair shares rose 1.8% to EUR 23.40 in Dublin on the morning the figures came out, according to Alliance News.
A 4% rise is modest by Ryanair's historical standards, reflecting a fleet that is close to full utilisation in peak months and the airline's continued reliance on deliveries of Boeing 737-8200 aircraft to add capacity. September is also a month when the network starts to taper towards the winter schedule, which begins at the end of October.
Wizz Air: capacity up by a quarter
Wizz Air's growth was far faster. Capacity rose 25.3% to 8.46 million seats, and passengers increased 24.2% to 7.78 million. Its load factor slipped 0.8 percentage points to 92.0%, which the airline said "in part reflected a stronger pricing environment, with a notable improvement seen in the month compared to earlier periods."
Over the past 12 months, Wizz Air carried 79.3 million passengers, up 19.0%, on 87.2 million seats, up 19.3%, for a rolling load factor of 91.0% against 91.2% a year earlier. The company reported CO2 emissions of 49.0 grams per passenger-kilometre in September, 1.6% lower than a year before, and said it operates a fleet of 276 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. Wizz Air shares edged up 0.3% to 1,033 pence in London.
Wizz Air's numbers come against a difficult engine backdrop. Like other operators of Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan aircraft, it has had to manage engine inspections and shortages, and Simple Flying reported this weekend that the airline has parked three of its nine Airbus A321XLRs to use their engines elsewhere in the fleet. The XLRs had originally been intended for the Abu Dhabi operation that Wizz has since closed.
Two strategies, one market
The contrast in growth rates reflects where each airline sits in its cycle. Ryanair is already the largest airline group in Europe by passengers and adds capacity as new aircraft arrive, while Wizz Air is still expanding its network and fleet from a smaller base.
French outlet Air Journal summed up the month as growth for both carriers but with distinct strategies. Ryanair, whose fleet is built around the Boeing 737, is growing in single digits while keeping loads at 94% and managing disruption from air traffic control. Wizz Air, which flies Airbus A320 and A321 jets, is adding seats at a much faster rate and accepting a slightly lower load factor while it says fares are improving.
For passengers, the figures confirm that low-cost demand in Europe stayed strong after the summer peak. Both airlines head into the winter season with large networks across the continent, with Ryanair adding based aircraft and routes in Poland and Milan for winter 2026-27 and Wizz Air opening new Sofia routes to Egypt. The October traffic reports, due in early November, will show whether that momentum carries into the first weeks of the winter timetable and whether Ryanair's cancellation tally eases once the late-summer air traffic control problems are behind it.
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