Easyjet and Ryanair are two of Europe’s biggest and most well-known budget airlines. Together they carry roughly 276 million passengers per year around the continent.
This is an Easyjet vs Ryanair head-to-head comparison of the airlines in terms of some operational and financial statistics of interest.
Special Note: airlines report statistics that align with their relevant fiscal reporting years:
- Ryanair’s fiscal year 2024 covers 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
- Easyjet’s fiscal year 2023 covers 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023.
Easyjet – Numbers of Airports, Bases and Routes
In 2023, Easyjet reported it had 38 bases serving 155 airports and 1,018 routes in 35 countries.
Its largest base is at London Gatwick (LGW).
Ryanair – Numbers of Airports, Bases and Routes
In 2024, Ryanair reported having 95 bases, serving 235 airports and 2,500 routes in 37 countries.
Its largest bases are at London Stansted (STN) and Dublin (DUB).
Easyjet Flight Sector Statistics
Easyjet reported making 519,000 flight sectors in 2023.
How many flights per day does Easyjet make?
An average of 1,422 flights per day in 2023.
The average Easyjet flight sector length in 2023 was 1,224km. This means the total distance flown in 2023 by Easyjet aircraft was 635 million km.
Ryanair Flight Sector Statistics
Ryanair reported making 1,022,455 flight sectors in 2024.
How many flights per day does Ryanair make?
An average of 2,801 flights per day in 2024.
The average Ryanair flight sector length in 2024 was 1,255km. This means the total distance flown annually by Ryanair aircraft in 2024 was 1,283 million km.
Easyjet vs Ryanair Flight Sectors 2016-2024
| Year | Easyjet Flight Sectors |
Ryanair Flight Sectors |
| 2024 | – | 1,022,455 |
| 2023 | 519,000 | 946,643 |
| 2022 | 456,000 | 620,524 |
| 2021 | 155,664 | 204,828 |
| 2020 | 311,477 | 823,897 |
| 2019 | 605,899 | 789,771 |
| 2018 | 559,857 | 725,044 |
| 2017 |
516,902 | 675,482 |
| 2016 | 482,110 | 609,501 |
Easyjet Passenger Statistics
Easyjet flew 92.6 million passengers in 2023 with an average load factor of 89%.
How many passengers fly with Easyjet every day?
Easyjet handled an average of 254,000 passengers per day in 2023, although there will be relatively more passengers flying during the peak summer season than in the winter.
Ryanair Passenger Statistics
Ryanair flew 184 million passengers in 2024 with an average load factor of 94%.
How many passengers fly with Ryanair every day?
Ryanair flew an average of 504,000 passengers per day in 2024.
| What is the load factor?
This is an airline industry metric which measures the capacity utilisation. It is effectively the percentage calculated by taking the number of carried passengers and dividing by the number of available seats. The load factor can be calculated for a single flight, a particular route, an aircraft type or an entire airline. |
Easyjet vs Ryanair Passenger Statistics 2016-2024
| Year | Easyjet passengers |
Easyjet load factor |
Ryanair passengers |
Ryanair load factor |
| 2024 | – | – | 184.0 million | 94.0% |
| 2023 | 82.8 million | 89.0% | 169.0 million | 93.0% |
| 2022 | 69.7 million | 86.0% | 97.0 million | 82.0% |
| 2021 | 20.4 million | 72.5% | 27.5 million | 71.0% |
| 2020 | 48.1 million | 87.2% | 149.0 million | 95.0% |
| 2019 | 96.1 million | 91.5% | 142.1 million | 96.0% |
| 2018 | 88.5 million | 92.9% | 130.3 million | 95.0% |
| 2017 |
80.2 million | 92.6% | 120.0 million | 94.0% |
| 2016 | 73.1 million | 91.6% | 106.4 million | 93.0% |
Easyjet Aircraft Fleet Statistics
According to Airfleets.net (September 2024), Easyjet Group has a fleet of 347 aircraft as follows:
| Aircraft type |
Number |
| Airbus A319 |
82 |
| Airbus A320 | 180 |
| Airbus A320neo | 69 |
| Airbus A321 | 16 |
| TOTAL |
347 |
The average Easyjet fleet age is around 10.1 years.
Ryanair Aircraft Fleet Statistics
According to Airfleets.net (September 2024), the Ryanair Holdings Group has a fleet of 606 aircraft as follows:
| Aircraft type |
Number |
| Boeing 737-700 | 1 |
| Boeing 737-800 | 410 |
| Boeing 737-8200 (MAX) | 168 |
| Airbus A320 |
27 |
| TOTAL |
606 |
The average Ryanair fleet age is around 9.6 years.
| Note – airline fleets are constantly changing. Aircraft fleet numbers stated in annual reports only give a snapshot at that particular moment. |
Easyjet Website Visitors
The Easyjet.com website had an estimated 25.0 million visits in July 2024. It is ranked number 11 in terms of web traffic in the airline industry.
Ryanair Website Visitors
The Ryanair.com website had an estimated 61.4 million visits in July 2024. It is ranked number 2 in terms of web traffic in the airline industry. [source: Similarweb]
Easyjet vs Ryanair Website visitors
| Period | Easyjet.com monthly visits |
Ryanair.com monthly visits |
| Jul 2024 | 25.0 million | 61.4 million |
| Jun 2024 | 23.3 million | 56.6 million |
| May 2024 |
23.3 million | 62.0 million |
Easyjet vs Ryanair Social Media Followers
Ryanair leads the way with a total of 9.547 million followers on the 4 main platforms (X/Facebook/Instagram/TikTok).
Easyjet has a total of 3.141 million followers.
Social media stats as of September 2024.
| Easyjet |
Ryanair |
|
| X (formerly Twitter) | 588,000 | 847,000 |
| Facebook |
1.8 million | 4.9 million |
| Instagram |
475,000 | 1.4 million |
| TikTok | 278,000 | 2.4 million |
Easyjet Staff Numbers
In 2023, Easyjet reported it had 16,697 staff members which included 4,447 pilots and 6,924 cabin crew.
The Easyjet CEO is Johan Lundgren. In 2025 Lundgren will step-down and will be succeeded by current CFO Kenton Jarvis.
Ryanair Staff Numbers
In 2024 Ryanair reported it had 27,076 staff members which included 7,049 pilots and 16,905 cabin crew.
The Ryanair CEO is Michael O’Leary.
Easyjet vs Ryanair Employees 2016-2024
| Year | Easyjet Employees |
Ryanair Employees |
| 2024 | – | 27,076 |
| 2023 | 16,697 | 22,261 |
| 2022 | 14,443 | 19,116 |
| 2021 | 13,000 | 15,016 |
| 2020 | 14,000 | 17,268 |
| 2019 | 15,000 | 16,840 |
| 2018 | 14,000 | 14,583 |
| 2017 |
12,000 | 13,026 |
| 2016 | 10,000 | 11,458 |
Easyjet Profit/Loss and Revenue
In 2023 Easyjet reported an operating profit of £455 million before tax on £8,171 million of revenue.
Easyjet Plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: EZJ) and is part of the FTSE 100 index.
Ryanair Profit/Loss and Revenue
In 2024 Ryanair reported an operating profit of €2,128 million before tax on €13,444 million of revenue.
Ryanair Holdings Plc is listed on Euronext Dublin (ISEQ: RYA) plus an additional listing in the US (NASDAQ:RYAAY).
Easyjet vs Ryanair Revenue 2016-2024
| Fiscal Year | Easyjet Revenue (£ millions) |
Ryanair Revenue (€ millions) |
| 2024 | – | 13,444 |
| 2023 | 8,171 | 10,775 |
| 2022 | 5,769 | 4,801 |
| 2021 | 1,458 | 1,636 |
| 2020 | 3,009 | 8,495 |
| 2019 | 6,385 | 7,697 |
| 2018 | 5,898 | 7,151 |
| 2017 |
5,047 | 6,648 |
| 2016 | 4,669 | 6,536 |
| From its 2024 annual report, the average booked Ryanair passenger fare is €49.80. When you add in ancillary revenue per booked passenger of €23.40, this results in a total revenue per booked passenger of €73.20. |
Easyjet vs Ryanair CO2 Emissions
In 2023, Easyjet reported a CO2 emission of 67.2g per passenger km.
In 2024 Ryanair reported a CO2 emission of 65.0g per passenger km.
Easyjet Longest & Shortest Route
Easyjet’s longest route is Belfast (BFS) – Hurghada (HRG) in Egypt which is 2,762 miles and has a scheduled flying time of around 6 hours.
Easyjet’s shortest route is Belfast (BFS) – Isle of Man (IOM) which is just 76 miles. The scheduled flying time is 40 minutes.
Ryanair Longest & Shortest Route
Ryanair longest route is Warsaw Modlin (WMI) – Tenerife South (TFS) which is 2,542 miles and has a scheduled flying time of up to 5 hours 55 minutes.
Ryanair’s shortest flight route is Valencia (VCN) – Ibiza (IBZ) which is 108 miles. The scheduled flying time is 45 minutes.
| Lounges – Easyjet opened a co-branded lounge at Gatwick airport in 2021. Ryanair does not operate any lounges. |
Easyjet vs Ryanair Route Map Extremities
Both airlines have significant route coverage throughout Europe and also serve a few destinations in North Africa and Israel. Easyjet and Ryanair rarely compete on the same route.
Easyjet
Most Northerly Airport: Tromsø (TOS, Norway) 69°41’00″N
Most Southerly: Sal, Cape Verde (SID) 16°44’29″N
Most Easterly: AQJ (Aqaba, Jordan) 35°01’05″E
Most Westerly: KEF (Reykjavík, Iceland) 22°36’20″W
Ryanair
Most Northerly: SFT (Skellefte, Sweden) 64°37’29″N
Most Southerly: LPA (Gran Canaria, Spain) 27°55’55″N
Most Easterly: AMM (Amman, Jordan) 35°59’36″E
Most Westerly: TER (Terceira, Azores) 27°05’27″W
Easyjet Seats
Easyjet planes have dark grey-orange seats in a 3-3 configuration.
The seat pitch and width is as follows:
| Aircraft type |
Seat Pitch | Seat Width | Seats |
| Airbus A319 |
28.5″ | 17.7″ | 156 |
| Airbus A320ceo | 28.0″-29.0″ | 17.7″ | 180/186 |
| Airbus A320neo | 29.0″ | 17.7″ | 186/188 |
| Airbus A321 | 28.0″-29.0″ | 17.7″ | 235 |
Easyjet seats do not recline but do have a seat pocket. All seats are economy class.
Easyjet sells allocated seating – the cost varies per flight, route and time of booking and depends whether the seat is classed as extra legroom (first row or overwing exit), up front (rows 2-6) or elsewhere. Expect to pay up to £33.49 per flight for a seat allocation.
Ryanair Seats
Ryanair planes have blue-yellow seats in a 3-3 configuration.
The seat pitch and width is as follows:
| Aircraft type |
Seat Pitch | Seat Width | Seats |
| Boeing 737-800 |
29.0″-29.5″ | 17.7″ | 189 |
| Boeing 737-MAX8200 |
28.0″-29.0″ | 17.7″ | 197 |
| Airbus A320ceo (Lauda) |
28.5″-29.0″ | 17.7″ | 180 |
Ryanair seats do not recline and have no seat pocket.
Ryanair also sells allocated seating which costs as follows
- Extra legroom seats (rows 1, 2 (D,E,F) and 16-17): €/£11-€/£33 per flight
- Front Seats (rows 2 (A,B,C) – 5): €/£7-€/£21 per flight
- Standard Seats (rows 6-15 and 18-33): €/£4.50-€/£15.50 per flight
- Mandatory Family Seat (for adults traveling with children under 12): €/£6-€/£10 per flight
Passengers who do not purchase allocated seating will automatically be assigned a ‘random’ seat at check-in.
Easyjet Carry-On Luggage Allowance
Easyjet allows all passengers to bring 1 small carry on bag with maximum size of 45 x 36 x 20cm including handles and wheels. It should fit in under the seat in front.
It is also possible to book a fare with an additional large cabin bag (max dimensions 56 x 45 x 25cm). This option is also included for easyJet Plus cardholders, FLEXI fare, Up Front or Extra Legroom customers.
Passengers can also choose to purchase checked bags of 15kg or 23kg.
Ryanair Carry-On Luggage Allowance
Ryanair allows all passengers to bring 1 small bag measuring up to 40 x 20 x 25cm which must be placed under the seat in front.
Those purchasing “Priority & 2 Cabin Bags” can take a second bag of up to 10kg with max dimension 55 x 40 x 20cm. This can be stowed in the overhead lockers.
Passengers can also choose to purchase checked bags of 10kg or 20kg.
Easyjet Historical Background
Easyjet (U2) was established in 1995 by founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. It is headquartered at London Luton Airport in the UK.
Easyjet made its inaugural flight from London Luton to Glasgow on 10 November 1995 using a Boeing 737 aircraft. Its first international route was London Luton to Amsterdam which started in 1996.
The Easyjet Group in 2024 is made up of Easyjet (UK), Easyjet Europe (Austria) and Easyjet Switzerland.
Ryanair Historical Background
Ryanair (FR) was established in 1985 by the Ryan family. It is headquartered at Dublin Airport in Ireland.
Ryanair’s inaugural flight was Waterford to London Gatwick on 8 July 1985 using a 15-seater Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante turboprop aircraft.
The Ryanair Holdings Group in 2024 is made up of Buzz (Poland), Lauda Europe (Malta), Malta Air (Malta), Ryanair (Ireland) and Ryanair UK.
| Safety – Easyjet and Ryanair have both had no events in their history causing a single passenger fatality. |
Easyjet vs Ryanair Summary
We have dived into various Easyjet v Ryanair operational statistics for 2023/24. Both airlines have been growing strongly in the last couple of years since the 2020-22 travel restrictions were lifted.
The figures show that Ryanair is statistically the bigger airline of the two.
DATA SOURCES: Ryanair, Easyjet, Airfleets.net [1][2], Aerolopa, Similarweb, AirSafe
- Last updated 6 September 2024.
- First published in 2015.
- Links at AirTravelGenius.com may pay an affiliate commission. DISCLAIMER: Information can change; we try to provide accurate information though we are not liable for any inaccuracies.
