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 ¨C 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¡±.