Air traffic: direct flight providers juggle for lucrative markets

Ryanair is setting itself ambitious growth targets and the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings is starting in Sweden for the first time: After the Corona crisis, the direct flight providers are fighting for passengers in Europe.

As the largest low-cost airline on the continent, Irish Ryanair wants to expand its business even more than previously known after the Corona crisis. In the financial year until the end of March 2026, the number of passengers of Ryanair and its group airlines such as Lauda is expected to grow to more than 225 million, the company announced on Thursday at its general meeting in Dublin. That is 25 million more than previously targeted and over one and a half times as many as in the financial year up to the end of March 2020. At that time, Ryanair had almost 149 million passengers.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary wants to expand the range of flights where other airlines have had to give up or have reduced their fleets in the wake of the Corona crisis. In the course of this, more than 5,000 new jobs for pilots, flight attendants and technicians are to be created at Ryanair. A few days ago, the Hungarian competitor Wizz Air also confirmed a strong expansion from currently 142 to around 500 jets and announced the hiring of 1000 people this year.

The Lufthansa holiday airline Eurowings meanwhile wants to expand its business to Northern Europe. At the end of March next year, a new base with initially five aircraft will be opened in Stockholm, the company announced in Cologne. At the start they are looking for 150 new crew members. With the offer to 20 European sun destinations and capitals, the Lufthansa subsidiary obviously wants to fill the gap that the ailing provider Norwegian leaves open in Scandinavia.