On Christmas Day, European air traffic suddenly loses thousands of movements. Over three thousand flights simply do not exist: not due to snow, strikes or operational emergencies, but due to a specific decision by Ryanair. The low-cost giant, the continent’s leading airline and fourth in the world in terms of number of flights, shut down its engines on December 25th and stopped the entire fleet for around 36 hours. No Boeing or Airbus takes off.
Motivation is rooted in culture. Ryanair is based near Dublin and, in Ireland, Christmas is a deeply felt occasion. Pilots, flight attendants, ground staff and administrative staff stay at home: airports and offices are completely empty. On Christmas Eve 2025 the company operated 1,720 flights, with the last take-off set at 18.30 local time (19.30 in Italy): the FR5307 from Kerry to Dublin, just 31 minutes of flight. Operations resume on December 26 with 2,658 departures scheduled. The first? At six in the morning local time (five in Italy), with flight FR8866 from Sofia to Bergamo.
This annual stop means giving up, in a single day, over half a million passengers and around 40 million euros in revenues. A choice that might seem difficult to digest for a manager known for his obsessive attention to accounts like CEO Michael O’Leary. Yet, according to some analysts, the economic sacrifice would be partially compensated: Christmas traffic is reduced and operating costs on holidays – including surcharges and overtime – increase significantly, mitigating the real impact on budgets.
Ryanair is not the only one to stop on December 25th. Jet2.com, a British company specializing in tourism, also suspends flights, albeit with a volume of operations more than ten times lower. Total stop also for Aer Lingus, another Irish company, even if formally some connections from the United States leave on Christmas afternoon, arriving in Europe late in the evening.
There are also carriers that interrupt operations on a weekly basis for religious reasons. This is the case of Israeli companies, such as El Al, which suspend flights from Friday at around midday until Saturday evening. In between is Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. Signs that, even in global aviation, tradition and faith can still take precedence over business.