Ryanair ruins holiday plans for 1.4 million people by announcing flight cancellations

Europe's largest airline has a fleet of more than 550 aircraft. Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP

Ryanair has had holiday plans ruined for up to 1.4 million passengers as it canceled its winter schedule.

Europe's largest airline blamed delays in deliveries of new planes from Boeing on the cancellations, which will take effect from the end of October.

It is not yet known how many flights will be cancelled. . But Peel Hunt analyst Alex Paterson estimated that at least 1.4 million passengers would be affected.

The Irish carrier did not comment on the figure but confirmed that at least 10 of its 550 airliners across Europe would be unscheduled for winter 2023.

The airline said a reduction in its flight schedule is «inevitable» as it does not have spare aircraft due to scheduled maintenance.

Mr Paterson said: “Ryanair operates a very low-cost airline model where high load capacity is critical.

Michael O'Leary, CEO, said: “At this early stage, we do not expect these delivery delays to significantly impact our annual traffic target of 183.5 million.

< p>“But if delays worsen or extend further between January and March 2024, we may have to return to this figure and perhaps adjust it downward slightly.”

The aircraft are based at eight airports in Europe, including Dublin and Naples. , East Midlands and Cologne will be taken out of service for vital maintenance work.

Additional maintenance stops are to be confirmed at a further three Ryanair bases.

Mr O'Leary said at a press conference on Wednesday: «If Boeing no longer delays deliveries, we will reach 183.5 million passengers.»

“Pre-Covid, we carried 149 million passengers, so we're serving almost 30 percent more than we did three years ago.”

The airline said affected passengers booked on canceled flights would be notified “in the coming weeks.” and offered alternative flights or refunds.

Ryanair expected to receive 27 aircraft from Boeing over the next three months, but production delays mean it expects to receive only 14 new airliners between September and December.< /p >

The airline apologized for the flight cancellations, highlighting delays at Boeing subcontractor Spirit Aerosystems' fuselage plant in Wichita, Kansas.

Spirit acknowledged a «quality issue» at the plant over the summer, saying mid-Aug. : “We believe this issue will not have a material impact on deliveries during the year.”

Boeing said: “We value our partnership with Ryanair and are committed to supporting them.”

The airliner maker said the problems were also caused by repair and delivery failures at its own plant in Seattle.

Ryanair