Ryanair must forgo hundreds of thousands of ticket gross sales this yr due to delayed jet deliveries from Boeing, the low-cost airline’s chief government Michael O’Leary stated Tuesday.
He additionally stated the drop in ticket costs that dragged down Ryanair’s first-half outcomes ought to average later this yr.
“Boeing delivery delays are challenging our schedule growth this year,” O’Leary stated at a press convention in London, saying Ryanair would transport 5 million fewer passengers this yr than the 205 million it initially anticipated.
Ryanair has 350 Boeing 737 single-aisle planes beneath order, however the US producer has delayed deliveries due to a sequence of technical issues.
“We were supposed to get seven in July. We got five. We were supposed to get ten in August. We’re going to be lucky if we get five,” he stated. “It is very frustrating dealing with Boeing at the moment.”
O’Leary stated the 5 million fewer passengers might reduce income by about 500 million euros ($550 million) this yr.
“Boeing are certainly paying us some modest amounts of compensation, but I’d far rather have taken the aircrafts and grown even faster,” he stated.
The low-cost airline was additionally hit within the first half by costs declining about 15 % on common from a yr earlier, blaming excessive rates of interest that reduce into the disposable earnings of its purchasers.
“Good news for our customers, bad news for our shareholders,” O’Leary stated Tuesday.
However he stated the declines had been slowing, and for the total yr costs would in all probability be down about 5 %.
