Ryanair, EasyJet, and Wizz Air: Which Carrier is Ending 2024 on Top?

As 2024 comes to a close, the outlook for Europe’s three biggest low-cost carriers is varied. Clear differences are apparent in the financial performance and the broader issues affecting Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air. 

Let’s begin with a closer look at Ryanair. While summer profits were healthy at €1.52 billion ($1.58bn) they were down by 6% year on year.

The airline highlighted pricing weakness and saw fares fall 7% in the second quarter. While unwelcome, this was a lower rate of decline than Q1’s 15%. What’s interesting is this depth of price falls has not been experienced to the same extent by the other two low-cost airlines – more on them shortly.

Price matters to all budget carriers, but especially Ryanair. The Irish firm has long used price to stimulate demand. It uses a “load factor active, revenue passive” approach to ensure full aircraft. These drive higher ancillary sales, which now account for around a third of company revenues. 

Ryanair has never been shy about putting pressure on its competitors. It’s therefore conceivable that some of the price weakness may have been self-induced. The carrier also battled with several online travel agents in late 2023 and into 2024. These are mostly now overcom