Ryanair cancels flights this summer due to Boeing 737 aircraft delivery delays

01 March 2024 , 10:43

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Ryanair said it will cancel flights this summer due to delays in aircraft deliveries (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Ryanair has warned that it will have to cancel some flights this summer because of delays in getting new planes from Boeing.

The airline, which is based in Dublin, said it will only get 40 of the 57 new Boeing 737 MAX 8200 planes it was expecting by the end of June. This means it will have to make "minor schedule changes".

Ryanair said: "We will now have to reduce approximately 10 aircraft lines of flying for the peak summer months of July, August and September." It added that it has already made cuts at some of its more expensive airports like Dublin, Milan Malpensa, Warsaw Modlin and four in Portugal.

There were concerns about quality control at Boeing after a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines had a mid-air blowout on January 5. Ryanair's boss 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 2024 peak."

Mr O'Leary said the airline will now take delivery of delayed Boeing aircraft in August and September to help Boeing reduce its backlog. He said: "We regret any inconvenience caused to some customers and our airport partners by these enforced summer 2024 schedule changes."

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He added that Ryanair expects to carry between 198 million and 200 million passengers in the year to the end of March 2025, compared with an initial forecast of 205 million. The airline expects passenger numbers for the year to the end of this month to be 184 million.

Mr O'Leary added: "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."

"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 (chief executive) and Brian West (chief financial officer), 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."

Lawrence Matheson