Ryanair sustainability score: 24/100
Ryanair is Europe's largest low-cost airline, headquartered at Dublin Airport. Founded in 1985, it operates 27,000 employees across a network of 250+ destinations, carrying 184 million passengers in FY25 with revenue of €10.8 billion.
More about Ryanair
It is the continent's leading budget carrier by fleet size and route density.
Founded 1985Head office Dublin Airport, IrelandStaff ~27,000 (2024)Revenue 10,775,200,000 EUR (FY2022)Website ↗
Ryanair's 20.1 Mt CO₂e footprint rose 7.8% year-on-year, driven by capacity growth to 300 million passengers by 2034. SAF remains negligible (2% from January 2025, meeting regulatory minimum only). An upheld ASA greenwashing ruling, ACM warning on offset claims, and documented climate lobbying deterioration—including CEO rejection of 2050 net-zero—undermine stated targets.
Ryanair scores 24/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified July 2026.
That places Ryanair joint 837th of 934 companies scored, and joint 12th of 23 in Airlines / Aviation.
What is Ryanair doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Transparency & Accountability (7/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Energy Source (1/10, 2/10).
Where Ryanair lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain4/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling1/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is2/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets4/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies2/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Ryanair's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Ryanair's score changed?
Ryanair's score has moved from 23 to 24 across 2 recorded reviews, up 1 point.
- 23 → 24+118 August 2026
Re-classified Aerospace[38] -> Airlines / Aviation[28]; score 26->24
- Scored 238 February 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Ryanair's score based on?
13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Ryanair itself; the rest come from independent sources.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“subject to limited assurance review by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chartered Accountants”
“In 2025, Ryanair Holdings reported a total carbon footprint of 20,097,058 metric tons of CO₂e across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions.”
“The airline company's carbon emissions grew to 12.3 million tonnes (mt) in 2025, a 2 per cent increase on 2024.”
“This agreement with Enilive would enable Ryanair to access to up to 100,000 tons of SAF between 2025 and 2030”
“Non-CO2 emission impacts are primarily generated from the formation of persistent contrails and from nitrous oxides ('NOx') emissions.”
“2024 Sustainability Report: Aviation With Purpose”
“Ryanair Holdings plc commits to reduce Well-to-Wake scope 1 and 3 jet fuel GHG emissions 27% per RTK by 2031 from a 2023 base year.”
“Scope 3 emissions accounting for 18% of total emissions under the GHG Protocol, with 'Fuel and Energy Related Activities' being the largest emissions source at 97%”
“Negative climate lobbying efforts appear to be led by Air France-KLM (E+), IAG (E+), Lufthansa (E+), and Ryanair (E)”
“in an October 2025 Financial Times interview, Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, criticized EU climate regulation, stating 'the green agenda is dead'”
“Ryanair was warned that some claims about carbon compensation could be misleading.”
“The Group has identified and assessed IROs across its own operations and value chain at a sub-sub-topic level.”
“The ASA ruled Ryanair's 'Europe's… lowest emissions airline' claims misleading and unsubstantiated; the ads must not appear again in that form.”
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How does Ryanair compare with other airlines / aviation companies?
Where Ryanair sits among airlines / aviation peers.
Among the 23 major airlines / aviation brands we've scored, Ryanair is tied =12th of 23, with 2 others.
Who scores higher in Airlines / Aviation?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Ryanair.
Aegean Airlines discloses only FY2022 absolute Scope 1 emissions (1.13 Mt CO2e); Scope 3 is entirely unreported.
See the breakdown →Air France-KLM's absolute emissions rose 17.5% in 2024 despite intensity improvements.
See the breakdown →Lufthansa's absolute emissions rose 16% year-on-year to 42.9 Mt CO₂e in 2024, exceeding pre-COVID levels.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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