Ryanair has announced cuts to its winter schedule 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 (RYAAY) said in a statement Thursday that it had expected to receive delivery of 27 aircraft between September and December.
But due to production delays at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita, Kansas, combined with Boeing's repair and delivery delays in Seattle, Ryanair now expects to receive only 14 aircraft during the three-month period.
Flight cancellations will take effect from the end of October, and will be communicated to all affected passengers by email over the coming days, the airline said.
"At this early date, we do not expect these delivery delays will materially affect our full-year traffic target of 183.5 million [passengers]," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said.
"But if the 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."
The budget airline said the cuts would affect Charleroi airport in Belgium, Dublin in Ireland and Italian airports including Bergamo, Naples and Pisa. There will also be reductions at East Midlands airport in the UK, Porto in Portugal and Cologne, Germany, it said.
Ryanair had expected delivery of 57 Boeing aircraft between September 2023 and May 2024.
"Ryanair is working with Boeing to try to accelerate deliveries in the January-to-May 2024 period so that it can enter the summer 2024 peak travel season with all 57 new Boeing aircraft deliveries as expected," the airline said in its statement.
