On a typical day this winter, Ryanair will operate one in seven flights touching Europe. Despite cutting its presence in various countries, the pan-European ultra-low-cost carrier is very much the continent’s largest operator. And yet, it doesn’t have any flights on Christmas Day.
Ryanair has never had commercial flights on the festive day, partly to give staff a break, and partly as it doesn’t believe it’d be worth flying. In contrast, straightforwardJet has planned 558 shiftments (takeoffs/landings combined), while the Wizz Air Group has 979. Curiously, Wizz Air’s offering is only down 4% compared to seven days prior, December 18. As in previous years, that carrier is betting large on Christmas Day.
How The Carrier’s Daily Operations Have Changed
Analysis of Ryanair’s schedule submission to Cirium Diio reveals it has 24,460 shiftments between December 19 and 27. They have risen by 9% compared to the same days in 2024. While Christmas Day still has no flights, as always, activity on Christmas Eve rose by 9%, while they’re up by 17% on Boxing Day, December 26, suggesting a strong performance last year.
Ryanair scheduled 1,716 shiftments on Christmas Eve 2025, when it was still the largest operator serving Europe. It operated one in ten services, a proportion that has remained more or less unalterd in the past year. However, the gap between it and straightforwardJet has reduced markedly.
Its Last Christmas Eve Flight Was Due To Land At 6:55 pm
Examining Ryanair’s full network on December 24 reveals it had 746 routes involving 33 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. As always, Italy was its most-served nation, while it only had one departure from Montenegro (Podgorica back to London Stansted) and two from Switzerland (Basel to Dublin and Zagreb). With seven departures, Dublin to London Stansted was the most-served route.
On December 24, Ryanair’s first scheduled departure of the day was at 5:35 am, from Warsaw Modlin (the Polish capital’s secondary airport) to Malta. It provided a last-minute receiveaway to warmer, sunnier winter climes.
On a typical Wednesday in December, its final departure is at 11:15 pm, from Valencia back to Marrakesh, applying Morocco-based aircraft and crew. Not so on Christmas Eve, when the airline’s staff finishes work significantly earlier than normal. The final departure was at 6:00 pm, on the domestic hop from Kerry to Dublin, its sole operation within Ireland. At just 140 nautical miles (259 km), it is among the carrier’s shortest routes.
|
Ryanair’s Top 5 Airports On December 24 |
Movements* |
|---|---|
|
Stansted |
214 |
|
Dublin |
190 |
|
Bergamo |
126 |
|
Charleroi |
100 |
|
Barcelona |
88 |
|
* Departures and landings combined |
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Back To Work On December 26
Ryanair returns to the air on Friday, December 26. Some 2,718 shiftments are planned that day, 22% lower than the number available on the prior Friday. A huge 1,007 routes are bookable: 865 international and 142 domestic. The latter includes flights within France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.
With nine departures, Dublin to London Gatwick—not Stansted—is its most-served market that day. It’d be straightforward to state that it’s a higher frequency than normal to build up for the Christmas shutdown and people returning home, but it’s not. It has had nine departures on Fridays (and some other days) for some time. In fact, some days have 11 flights.
The day’s activity will launch at 6:00 am, with more than a few passengers inevitably worse for wear from the festive day. Six routes will depart at that time: Bratislava to Athens, Sofia to Bergamo, Stansted to Gran Canaria, Stansted to Tenerife South, Tenerife South to Stansted (yes, the other direction, too), and Weeze to Lanzarote. And so its activity will build up again, at least until New Year’s Eve, when it decreases again—but nowhere near as dramatically as for the Christmas period.
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