Budget airlines are facing a gloomy winter with no end in sight to the Covid crisis gripping travel.
Wizz Air and Ryanair, which both operate from UK airports, have reported alarming passenger declines during January as the Government continues to impose travel restrictions on flights.
Hungarian-based carrier Wizz Air posted an 81 per cent dip in passengers during January against more than 3.1 million in the same month 2020.
Capacity was cut by 73 per cent to 940,410 seats.
Meanwhile, Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost carrier, flew just 1.3 million passengers in January compared to 10.8 million in the same month during 2020 - down by 88 per cent and just 15 per cent of its normal capacity.
Ryanair is expecting a 95 per cent slump in traffic for February and March, with few if any flights operating from the UK.
It is expecting to carry just 500,000 passengers in February and March, when it would usually fly approximately 10 million a month.
Flight schedules were cut from January 21 with limited number of routes still operating, including UK airports to Dublin.
The budget carrier said it would not resume normal services “until such time as draconian travel restrictions are removed”.
