Ryanair's May Traffic Numbers Show Five-Month Straight Growth

Ryanair Holdings RYAAY, a European carrier, reported solid traffic numbers for May 2026, driven by upbeat air-travel demand.

The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 20.7 million in May 2026, reflecting a 6% year-over-year increase. Apart from a year-over-year surge, RYAAY’s traffic in May was much more than the April reading of 19.3 million, the March reading of 15.8 million, 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 as well as sequentially at 95% in May 2026, reflecting stable and consistent demand for the carrier’s services. It improved from the load factor of 93% reported in both the months of April and March 2026, 92% reported in February 2026 and 91% reported in January 2026.

RYAAY operated more than 1,14,000 flights in May 2026. This marks an improvement from 1,08,000 flights operated in April 2026, 88,000 flights operated in March 2026, 75,000 flights operated in February 2026 and 73,000 flights operated in January 2026, 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. During 2026, RYAAY’s traffic grew 4% year over year to 208.4 million passengers. Such figures boost RYAAY’s position as one of the world’s leading low-fare airlines in terms of passenger traffic, with low fares and reduced costs acting as the main catalyst.

Given the aforesaid backdrops, Ryanair has unveiled an encouraging traffic outlook for fiscal 2027 (concurrent with its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release on May 18, 2026). RYAAY anticipates its fiscal 2027 traffic to grow by 4% to 216 million passengers.

RYAAY’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

RYAAY currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Shares of RYAAY have plunged 18.7% so far this year compared with the 2.5% decline of the Zacks Airline industry.

RYAAY Stock’s YTD Price Comparison

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector may consider International Seaways INSW and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. EXPD. 

INSW currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

INSW has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 33.93%.

EXPD currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Expeditors has an expected earnings growth rate of 11.9% for the current year.  The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 13.96%.

7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days

Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."

Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com