5-10 Missing Planes Leave Gaps in Summertime Schedules

Euro carrier Ryanair says it plans on being a little shorthanded this summertime travel season, to the point it will have to reduce its expected travel growth.

Chief exec Michael O'Leary told journos that Ryanair would likely be about five to ten aircraft short of where it would like to be by the end of spring 2024, despite some fresh deliveries on the calender in the coming months. Originally, the carrier expected 57 new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft delivered by May 1st, but Boeing's myriad issues in recent years have seen that expectation come and go. Thanks to the smaller-than-expected fleet, Ryanair says they expect to board about 200 million passengers instead of 205 million as forecast last year. A similar jam forced the carrier to cut into its holiday 2023 schedule in similar fashion, though even at reduced capacity it still sees about 9% growth year over year.

"We were supposed to have 27 aircraft delivered prior to Christmas, we finished up getting 11," said O'Leary in a recent interview. "We're supposed to have 57 aircraft delivered to us by the end of April, and we think we'd be lucky to get 50 by the end of June. So we're going to be 5, 7, maybe 10 aircraft short for the peak summer season this year. It costs us, if you're talking being down 5 million on 205 million passengers, probably 2-2.5% of profits."

FMI: www.ryanair.com