Ryanair to cut flights this winter due to Boeing delivery delays
Ryanair announced cuts to its winter schedule on Thursday due to delays in the delivery of Boeing aircraft, but Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers said its full-year traffic forecast was unaffected “as yet”.
Ryanair, which is one of Boeing’s largest customers, said in a statement that it had expected to receive delivery of 27 aircraft bewteen September and December.
However, production delays at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita, Kansas, combined with Boeing repair and delivery delays in Seattle, meant the budget airline now expects to receive only 14 aircraft between October and December.
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“At this time, we do not expect these delivery delays to affect our full-year traffic target of 183.5 million,” said Group CEO Michael O’Leary.
“But if delays worsen or extend further into the January to March 2024 period, we may have to revisit this figure and possibly adjust it slightly downward,” he added.
Ryanair reported that it will reduce three aircraft based at Charleroi airport in Belgium, two in Dublin and five at Italian airports, including Bergamo, Naples and Pisa. It will also reduce aircraft at the British airports of East Midlands, Porto (Portugal) and Cologne (Germ
The airline had planned to deliver 57 Boeing aircraft between September 2023 and May 2024 and said it was working to try to accelerate deliveries in the January to May 2024 period so it can enter the peak summer travel season with all planes delivered on schedule, Reuters reported.
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