Ryanair Holdings is considering prolonging its use of the B737-800 workhouse due to delayed B737-8-200 deliveries, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said during the group's half-yearly earnings call.

"We're growing faster than we originally thought we would at this time because we're not retiring older aircraft. In fact, one of the aircraft we returned off an operating lease two years ago has now been offered back to us at a very significant discount. And we will opportunistically add B737NGs in ones and twos where there's a financial incentive to do so," he said.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the LCC owns its entire fleet of one B737-700, 409 B737-800s, and seventy-eight B737-8-200s operated across its four AOCs (Ryanair, Ryanair UK, Buzz (Poland), and Malta Air). However, the twenty-nine A320-200s operated by Lauda Europe are all leased.

O'Leary stressed that the MAX 200 delivery delays were hampering the LCC's ambitious post-COVID growth plans. The group was due to take a further 21 of the type by the end of 2022 but currently expects only 10-12. Ryanair Holdings hopes to receive 46 by the summer 2024 peak and has been assured by Boeing that this schedule will be met, although O'Leary conceded that some of the aircraft could slip to a later date.

He emphasised that despite the delays, the airline was not looking to a second-hand market to add more B737s.

"There isn't much of a second-hand market out there at the moment on B737NGs. A lot of those aircraft have gone back into cargo conversion programs, et cetera," O'Leary pointed out.

The group currently has 132 MAX 200s on order. O'Leary said the current backlog was sufficient to fuel the airline's growth for the next three years, although it already foresees a need for a new commitment.

"Sometime in 2024, 2025, we would like to be back at discussions with Boeing on a new aircraft deal, but Boeing have to sort out their own manufacturing challenges at the moment, and they're going to deliver what they've committed to first before we can actually start negotiating new aircraft orders with any sense of confidence. In the meantime, Airbus is moping up huge amounts of Boeing's market share. They're now converting a lot of Boeing customers in China and the UK. Jet2 (United Kingdom) has gone to Airbus from Boeing. I have no doubt that once they sort out the current production problems, Boeing will want to recapture market share," he said.

In the meantime, the Irish LCC outlined plans to invest around USD200 million in retrofitting all of its B737-800s with split scimitar wingtips which should begin later this winter season.