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Ryanair's Traffic Numbers for March 2026 Improve Year Over Year

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Key Takeaways

  • RYAAY transported 15.8 million passengers in March 2026, a 5% year-over-year increase.
  • RYAAY's March 2026 load factor of 93% was flat year over year, reflecting stable and consistent demand.
  • RYAAY operated more than 88,000 flights in March 2026.

Ryanair Holdings(RYAAY - Free Report) , a European carrier, reported solid traffic numbers for March 2026, driven by upbeat air-travel demand.

The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 15.8 million in March 2026, reflecting a 5% year-over-year increase. Apart from a year-over-year surge, RYAAY’s traffic in March was much more than the February reading of 13.3 million and the January reading of 12.7 million, highlighting continued momentum from the beginning of the year.

Ryanair’s load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) remained flat year over year at 93% in March 2026, reflecting stable and consistent demand for the carrier’s services. The load factor improved sequentially from 92% reported in February 2026 and 91% reported in January 2026.

RYAAY operated more than 88,000 flights in March 2026. This marks an improvement from 75,000 flights operated in February 2026 and 73,000 flights operated in January2026, reflecting expanded capacity to meet strong passenger demand.

We would like to remind investors that Ryanair carried 200.2 million passengers (traffic up 9% year over year) in its fiscal year ending March 2025, positioning itself as the first European airline to reach 200 million passengers in a single year. As a result, RYAAY is now the world’s leading low-fare airline in terms of passenger traffic, with low fares and reduced costs acting as the main catalyst. During the first nine months of fiscal 2026, RYAAY’s traffic grew 4% year over year to 166.5 million passengers.

Given the aforesaid encouraging backdrops, Ryanair has unveiled its raised traffic outlook for fiscal 2026 (concurrent with its third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release on Jan. 26, 2026). Ryanair now expects its fiscal 2026 traffic to grow 4% to 208 million passengers (prior view: 207 million), owing to earlier than expected Boeing (BA - Free Report) deliveries and solid demand during the first nine months of fiscal 2026.

RYAAY’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

RYAAY currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Shares of RYAAY have gained 43.2% over the past year, outperforming the 38% surge of the Zacks Airline industry.

RYAAY Stock’s One-Year Price Comparison

Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may also consider C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW - Free Report) and Air Lease Corporation (AL - Free Report) ). Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

C.H. Robinson has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.91% for the current year. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 10.83%. Shares of CHRW have risen 57.5% in the past year.

AL currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

AL has an expected earnings growth rate of 14.1% for the current year. The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, missed once in the remaining, delivering an average beat of 14.58%.

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