On April 22, 2021, Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson said that the first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft delivery was expected to arrive in the next two weeks. This will be the airline’s first MAX delivery from a firm order of 210 aircraft.
“We are hoping it’s going to be in the next number of weeks. Probably in the next two weeks,” Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said during the World Aviation Festival virtual event.
Wilson added that all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that arrive would go for inspection. “There is always some work to be done when it arrives at Dublin in terms of approving the aircraft and then it goes pretty much straight into service.”
Initial deliveries were delayed for two years following the two fatal crashes of Lion Air Flight JT610 on October 29, 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 on March 10, 2019, resulting in the grounding of the variant in March 2019. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has recertified the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Europe on January 27, 2021.
In December 2020, Ryanair signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for 75 new 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which increased its firm order count from 135 to 210. “We hope to take delivery of at least 50 of these aircraft in 2021, subject to Boeing recovering its manufacturing output to deliver them,” Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said at the time, adding that the airline would use 737 MAX aircraft to rapidly restore flights in the EU.