A recent statement by Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, hinted that the airline may well readjust its fleet to focus on a single type.
In 2018, the Ryanair Group purchased Lauda [Laudamotion], an Austrian LCC, intending to shift away from operating an exclusively Boeing fleet. Ryanair’s fleet consists of more than 400 Boeing 737s, while Lauda operated 30 Airbus A320s. After the delays with the Boeing 737 MAX, the airline considered ordering the Airbus A321. But now, O’Leary has revealed that the idea of a mixed Boeing / Airbus fleet will likely be dropped. In an interview with Reuters, O’Leary said that negotiations with Airbus were “a waste of time”.
“We have [Airbus] aircraft that are due to be delivered over the next 12 months and we will cancel almost all of those deliveries, which are from leasing companies,” Reuters quoted O’Leary as saying.
If Boeing and Ryanair reach an agreement over the MAX deliveries, it may well mean that some of the 200 737 MAX aircraft could be used to replace the Airbus types currently used on Lauda’s fleet.
