News and Research

The 2021 edition of the CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany, released today as a 136-page report, describes the 2020 ancillary revenue activities and results for 75 airlines. The pandemic sliced passenger traffic and revenue by more than 50% last year. Yet, most of the world’s airlines survived 2020, which is an amazing accomplishment. In a year of gloom, the positive performance of ancillary revenue provided desperately needed support. An assessment of these results indicates ancillary revenue was the only financial success for airlines in 2020.  This is the first year with Wizz Air in the #1 slot, which has traditionally been held by North American carriers such as Spirit, Viva Aerobus, and Allegiant. The 55.9% result for Wizz Air also represents a yearbook record; the prior record of 47.6% was established by Viva Aerobus for the 2018 period.

Click here to download a graphic of the top 20 airlines ranked by ancillary revenue as a % of total revenue.