Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary has forecast that its airfares could rise by as much as 10 per cent this summer due to a slowdown in the delivery of new aircraft.
O’Leary told a press conference in Dublin that slower than expected deliveries from Boeing would constrain capacity over the peak summer months leading to a “higher fare environment across Europe".
Ryanair is due to take delivery of 57 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft by this spring, but O’Leary said the carrier may only receive between 40 to 45 of these aircraft in time for the summer 2024 schedule.
O’Leary said this may lead to some “schedule cuts” this summer, which would be made “mostly on routes with high daily frequencies”.
“Even our growth is going to be constrained and that leads to a higher fare environment in Europe this summer overall,” said O’Leary.
“Our average fares in summer 2023 rose 17 per cent. We don’t think we’ll see that much – we’re budgeting for a 5-10 per cent fare rise.”
The deliveries of new Boeing aircraft have been delayed following the blowout of part of the fuselage on an Alaska Airlines’ Max-9 in January. Following this incident, US regulators have been examining Boeing’s quality control procedures.
European airfares may also be forced up by continuing inspections of Pratt & Whitney engines used on Airbus A320s. Airlines such as Wizz Air and Lufthansa are having to ground some of their aircraft to allow engine inspections to deal with a “manufacturing issue”.