Low-fare airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air rose up the global rankings for passenger traffic last year in spite of the impact of Covid travel restrictions, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

British Airways suffered an 80% plunge in passenger traffic, while Virgin Atlantic dropped by 83% – and also fell out of the list of the top 100 largest airlines in the world.

BA fell from 12th position in 2019 to 30th in 2021 while Virgin Atlantic dropped from 50th to 105th last year.

EasyJet was down from 18th position in 2019 to 40th in 2021, with a 78% decline in passenger traffic; Jet2 fell from 70th in 2019 to 97th in 2021, following a 76% drop in passenger traffic and Tui tumbled from 52nd in 2019 to 112th in 2021, recording an 84% drop in passenger traffic.

The impact of the pandemic curbs is revealed by Cirium in its world airline passenger rankings for 2021.

Based on more than 600 operators in the Cirium airline database, the league table shows that world traffic at the end of 2021 was 57% down compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

Ryanair led the low-cost carrier revival, jumping from eighth position to fifth in the global rankings. It was the only European airline to make it into the top 10. Rival Wizz Air rose from 31st to 19th place.

www.cirium.com