Ryanair has updated its investors over the current uncertainty surrounding its Boeing 737 Max deliveries.
In a show of confidence toward the Boeing 737 Max, Ryanair has re-issued its commitment to the aircraft stating that it expects it to return to service before the end of 2019.
There is no word on when the aircraft will return to the skies.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said: "Boeing is hoping that a certification package will be submitted to regulators by September with a return to service shortly thereafter. We believe it would be prudent to plan for that date to slip by some months, possibly as late as December.
"As Ryanair have ordered the Boeing Max200s, which are a variant of the Max aircraft, these need to be separately certified by the FAA and EASA.
"Ryanair expects that the Max200 will be approved for flight services within two months of the Max return to service."
The airline hopes to receive its first Max200 aircraft sometime between January and February next year.
However, Ryanair was quick to stress that it can only take delivery of between six and eight new aircraft each month.
Ryanair will now revise its summer 2020 schedule based on 30 incremental aircraft, rather than 58. This will cut Ryanair's summer 2020 growth rate from 7% to 3%, and means full year traffic growth for the year to March 2021 will be cut from 162 million guests to approximately 157 million.
O'Leary added: "This shortfall in aircraft deliveries will necessitate some base cuts and closures for summer 2020, but also for the winter 2019 schedule.
"We are starting a series of discussions with our airports to determine which of Ryanair's underperforming or loss making bases should suffer these short term cuts and/or closures from November 2019. We will also be consulting with our people and our unions in planning and implementing these base cuts and closures, which are directly caused by the B737 Max delivery delays to the B737 Max program.
"Ryanair will continue to work with Boeing and EASA to recover these delivery delays during the winter of 2020, so that we can restore our growth to normal levels in summer 2021."