On March 1, Ryanair confirmed that Boeing now expects to deliver only 40 out of the initially planned 57 B737-MAX 8-200 aircraft slated for delivery to Ryanair before the conclusion of June 2024. The current summer 2024 (S24) schedule, which was based on receiving a minimum of 50 B737 aircraft, will undergo adjustments, leading Ryanair to reduce approximately ten aircraft lines of flying during the peak summer months of July, August and September. This will result in minor schedule changes within Ryanair’s extensive 600-aircraft fleet, focusing on reducing frequencies on existing routes rather than introducing new ones.
Ryanair has already implemented these schedule adjustments at select higher-cost airports, including Dublin, Milan Malpensa, Warsaw Modlin and four Portuguese airports experiencing cost increases exceeding inflation in 2024.
Expressing regret over these additional Boeing delivery delays, Ryanair anticipates that the updated S24 schedule changes will bring FY March 2025 traffic to just under 200 million passengers, compared to the initial target of 205 million. Ryanair intends to collaborate with Boeing to facilitate aircraft deliveries during the peak months of July, August and September 2024. However, due to uncertainties surrounding these deliveries, the airline will be unable to make these aircraft available for sale during peak S24.
Ryanair’s Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, stated, “We are very disappointed at these latest Boeing delivery delays, but we continue to work with Boeing to maximize the number of new B737 aircraft we receive by the end of June, which we can confidently release for sale to customers during the S24 peak. We will now work with Boeing to take delayed aircraft deliveries during August and September 2024 to help Boeing reduce their delivery backlog.”
