Ryanair draws a line under the excursion into the operation of the Airbus A320 and announces the phasing out of the 29 aircraft at Lauda Europe. Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan named a specific date: The first A2022s are to be returned to the lessors in the 320 winter flight schedule.
Lauda Europe will be transformed into a Boeing operator, which CEO Michael O'Leary had repeatedly promised. There was no agreement with Airbus regarding a large order for A320neo aircraft. According to reports, the price expectations of Ryanair and those of the European aircraft manufacturer are said to have been far apart. Towards the end of the previous year, the group again ordered a large number of Boeing products.
The group of companies has been relying exclusively on the Boeing 737-800 model for many years and in future also on the successor model Boeing 737 Max 200. In the previous year, the order was increased by 75 units to 210 machines. These are distributed to the flight operations of Ryanair DAC, Ryanair UK, Buzz, Malta Air and Lauda Europe. Even if a few weeks ago Malta Air and Lauda Europe boss David O'Brien did not want to confirm the reloading, his supervisor Michael O'Leary was always more talkative and made no secret of the fact that Lauda Europe will be operating a Boeing 737 Max 200 in the future will fly. It remains to be seen whether the planes will then wear Ryanair's colors or whether they will be in the air in their own colors like Malta Air and Buzz.
According to Ryanair CFO Neil Sorahan, the reloading will begin in winter 2022 and will continue over a period of three to four years. After that, the Ryanair Group will again be on the road with a pure Boeing fleet. There is no longer any future for the A320 aircraft in the medium term. In this context, it is also still unclear who will have to pay for the costs of the necessary retraining of the pilots.