Ryanair and Wizz Air report another decline in passenger numbers in March

Ryanair Holdings plc (LON: RYA) said on Tuesday that it flew only 500 thousand people in March as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis continued to weigh on travel and tourism, resulting in a hit to the global airline industry.

Ryanair shares that you can conveniently trade online via a range of user-friendly stock apps opened at £14.42 per share and are currently exchanging hands at £14.10 per share.

In comparison, the stock had started the year at a lower £13.12 per share after recovering from a low of £7.27 per share in the first week of April 2020. At the time of writing, the Swords-headquartered air carrier has a market cap of £15.83 billion.

Ryanair flew 32.7 million people in the past 12 months

Last month’s figures, as per the Irish low-cost airline, were 95% down compared to March 2020 when it flew 10.5 million people. On a rolling basis, this translates to Ryanair having flown 32.7 million people in the past 12 months, representing a massive 80% decline.

In February, Ryanair had forecast a record £837 million of annual loss due to the health emergency.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited new variants and rising cases of the Coronavirus as he recommended Britons to avoid overseas holidays. The government intends to resume international travel on 17^th May but also warned that it could be delayed further depending on how the COVID situation unfolds. In its update, the UK government said:

“Taking into account the latest situation with variants and the evidence about the efficacy of vaccines against them, we will confirm in advance whether non-essential international travel can resume on 17^th May, or whether we will need to wait longer before lifting the outbound travel restrictions.”

Wizz Air also acknowledges the impact of the new COVID-19 restrictions

In related news, peer Wizz Air Holdings plc (LON: WIZZ) also reported a 72.6% decline in passenger numbers in March. The low-budget airline said it flew 480 thousand people last month. Wizz Air said it flew 10.2 million people over the last twelve months, representing a 75% decline.

Despite travel restrictions, the Switzerland-headquartered air carrier recently announced new routes as well as a new base at Palermo (Italy).

Wizz Air shares opened roughly 1.5% down on Tuesday but regained the entire intraday loss later on. It is now trading at a per-share price of £50.10 with a market capitalisation of £4.29 billion.