The bigger of the two airlines, Ryanair, reported that it flew 11.1 million passengers last month, a 5% rise over the 10.6 million that did so in February 2023.

Its load factor, or the percentage of seats occupied by passengers, remained constant at 92% from the previous year.

It coincided with Ryanair's announcement that it had cancelled fewer flights due to the Israel-Gaza war than it had done before to Hamas' October strikes. Due to the fighting, it cancelled 800 flights last month, compared to 950 in January.

In the meanwhile, Wizz Air said that their passenger count increased to 4.4 million last month, up 15.8% from February 2023. It had a 90.0 percent load factor.

The airline did not provide any information other than to state that their load factor was “impacted by reallocated Israel capacity.” During the month, it also flew at a capacity higher than anticipated.

According to Wizz Air, each passenger's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by 5.1% to 51.4 grammes for every km they flew. With respect to the previous year, its total emissions increased by 21.3% to 409,624 tonnes.

“With 52.0 grammes per passenger/km for the rolling 12-month period ending on February 29, 2024, Wizz Air continues to consistently report the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger/km among competitor airlines,” the firm stated.

The airline made the announcement that it will build a second training facility in Rome in May of this year within a month. At the location, it will be able to train as many as 4,800 pilots annually.

In Budapest, it also expanded its fleet with two Airbus A321neos.