Despite rapid growth by budget carriers, and Lufthansa's year-end boost after the collapse of Air Berlin, TAP Portugal appears to be the European airline with the biggest passenger growth, with a 21.7% jump last year.
Norwegian, which added 54 new routes over the year trailed TAP with a bit over 12% growth. The two big budget carriers, Ryanair and EasyJet also hit double digits with 10% more passengers. AirFrance/KLM came in with 5.6% growth, while IAG, parent of British Air, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling has just 4%.
Lufthansa's claim for the year is in a different category: Taken together, the Lufthansa group, which includes Austrian, Swiss, Brussels, Lufthansa and Eurowings, edged out Ryanair to regain its title as the airline with the most passengers for the year.
Lufthansa gained significant business from the Air Berlin collapse and had hoped to take on more, but was blocked by competition authorities. IAG's replacement bid to take over Austria's Niki airline, which looked certain a week ago, has been tossed a curve, as German authorities ruled that an Austrian court must approve the deal.
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