Ryanair has warned of “some minor schedule changes”, during the summer, as it reduces flight frequency on certain routes due to a delay in new aircraft deliveries from planemaker Boeing.
Ryanair said it now expects to receive only 40 of 57 Boeing 737 planes originally due for the peak Summer 2024 season.
The airline will reduce approximately 10 aircraft lines of flying for July, August and September, which will reduce frequencies on existing routes only, rather than any cut in new routes.
As a result, Ryanair now expects to carry around 200 million passengers in the 12 months up to March 2025; down from its previous target of 205 million. It also warned that the upheaval will result in “slightly higher air fares” for customers this summer.
Ryanair’s Group CEO Michael O’Leary said: “We are very disappointed at these latest Boeing delivery delays, but we continue to work with Boeing to maximise the number of new B737 aircraft we receive by the end of June, which we can confidently release for sale to customers during the Summer ‘24 peak. We will now work with Boeing to take delayed aircraft deliveries during August and September 2024 to help Boeing reduce their delivery backlog.
“We regret any inconvenience caused to some customers and our airport partners by these enforced Summer ‘24 schedule changes, which will reduce our full year traffic growth from 184 million in FY24 to between 198 million to 200 million in FY25. We are working with our airport partners to deliver some growth to them, albeit later in September and October, rather than July and August. This traffic growth can only be delivered at lower fares during these shoulder months.”
Mr O’Leary said he and the rest of Ryanair’s senior management continue to have faith in Boeing, as a supplier.
“Boeing continues to have Ryanair’s wholehearted support as they work through these temporary challenges, and we are confident that their senior management team, led by Dave Calhoun (CEO) and Brian West (CFO), will resolve these production delays and quality control issues in both Wichita and Seattle.
“We expect these latest Boeing delivery delays, which regrettably are beyond Ryanair’s control, combined with the grounding of up to 20% of our Airbus competitors’ A320 fleets in Europe, will lead to more constrained capacity and slightly higher air fares for consumers in Europe in Summer 2024. We, therefore, urge all Ryanair customers to book early in order to secure the lowest available air fares for Summer 2024.”
