Ryanair Announces Schedule Reductions for Winter 2023 Due to Boeing Delivery Delays
Ryanair, Europe's leading airline, has unveiled significant reductions to its Winter 2023 schedule, attributing the move directly to delays in Boeing aircraft deliveries scheduled between September and December.
Ryanair Announces Schedule Reductions for Winter 2023 Due to Boeing Delivery Delays
DUBLIN – Ryanair, Europe's leading airline, has unveiled significant reductions to its Winter 2023 schedule, attributing the move directly to delays in Boeing aircraft deliveries scheduled between September and December. The airline had initially anticipated the arrival of 27 aircraft during this period. However, production setbacks at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita and further delays in Boeing's repair and delivery processes in Seattle have led to a revised expectation of just 14 aircraft between October and December.
Despite these challenges, Ryanair remains proactive, collaborating with Boeing to expedite deliveries from January to May 2024. The airline aims to kick off the Summer 2024 peak travel season with all 57 new Boeing aircraft as initially projected.
The delivery delays have necessitated several adjustments to Ryanair's Winter 2023 schedule:
- Reduction of Charleroi-based aircraft by 3.
- Reduction of Dublin-based aircraft by 2.
- Reduction of 5 aircraft across four Italian bases, including Bergamo, Naples, and Pisa.
- Aircraft reductions also planned for East Midlands, Porto, and Cologne.
Ryanair has expressed its regret over these unavoidable Winter 2023 schedule reductions. The airline highlighted that it lacks spare aircraft this winter due to scheduled maintenance across its extensive fleet of over 550 aircraft. This maintenance is crucial to ensure all aircraft are operational for the airline's most expansive Summer 2024 schedule yet.
Michael O’Leary, representing Ryanair, stated, "We are in continuous dialogue with Boeing and their supplier, Spirit, to minimize these delivery delays. It's deeply unfortunate that production issues in Wichita and Seattle have once again postponed Boeing's contracted deliveries to Ryanair this winter." O'Leary emphasized the airline's commitment to ensuring the delivery of all 57 contracted B737 aircraft before the end of May 2024. He further added, "We sincerely apologize to passengers for any inconvenience caused by these delivery delays this winter."
While the airline does not anticipate these delays to significantly impact its full-year traffic target of 183.5 million passengers, O'Leary did not rule out potential revisions if the delays extend into the January to March 2024 period.
