DUBLIN, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The repeated delays in the delivery of the Boeing 737 MAX planes have forced Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, to cut down its traffic growth target for the next fiscal year from 162 million passengers to 157 million, said the company in a statement issued on Monday.
The first Boeing 737 MAX-200 aircraft ordered by Ryanair was due in January, but the delivery "has been repeatedly delayed," said the statement, adding that the company now expects "the first MAX aircraft to deliver in March or April 2020 at the earliest".
"The risk of further delay is rising," said the statement, adding that the company may receive "only 20 MAX-200s" for the summer of 2020 instead of the originally expected 30 aircraft.
Ryanair has reportedly ordered a total of 210 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, but the delivery of the planes has been delayed due to a lengthy investigation into the safety issues of the aircraft following two crashes of the MAX.
The delayed delivery has also increased the airline's maintenance costs as older aircraft in the fleet have to remain in service due to the lack of timely replacement with new planes, said the company.
Despite the widespread concerns about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary, in a Monday video presentation posted on the company's website, expressed his confidence in the aircraft.
He believed that the aircraft when delivered will transform his company's cost base and business for the next decade as the "gamechanger" aircraft have 4 percent more seats and burn 16 percent less fuel.
