Ryanair is facing a bill of more than €5 million after discovering that up to nine of its aircraft may have become scratched and cracked following overhaul work in the mid-1990s, writes Emmet Oliver.
The airline said last night the damage had no safety implications. However, because of the cost of repairing the aircraft it was withdrawing them from service.
The airline will retire nine Boeing 737s earlier than originally planned and lease five new aircraft to replace them. The other aircraft will be replaced when the airline takes delivery of a new fleet of 737s. These aircraft, 15 in total, were ordered before the recent discovery.
In a statement, the airline said it became aware of scratches to the outer surface of one Boeing 737-200 aircraft some months ago and was concerned that an "inappropriate procedure" might have caused the problem.
The airline claimed the inappropriate procedure might have occurred during a full repainting of the aircraft about nine years ago by FLS Aerospace in Britain.
Together with experts from Boeing, Ryanair said it discovered this aircraft and 10 others were in the same FLS Aerospace paint shop during 1994 and 1995.
Based on a Boeing inspection programme, Ryanair claims five 737s bear "scratch marks", four others are still being inspected, while two appear undamaged.
This account was supported by a Boeing spokeswoman, who said Ryanair had tackled the issue proactively.
She said the original damage would have involved marks or scratches, but some of these developed into cracks. She said if the cracks were left unattended they might have had a safety implication.
She said sharp tools should never be used on the skin of aircraft and this was the likely cause.
However, FLS Aerospace said last night it had not been established whether it was to blame for the damage.
"FLS Aerospace believes in the highest standards of quality and safety in maintenance and is working with the aircraft manufacturer, as would be normal industry practice, to understand the nature and cause of this problem.
" Conclusions cannot be drawn at this stage as to the cause of the problem and whether it indeed relates to FLS Aerospace," the company said.