Ryanair has confirmed that repairs are being carried on a small number of its planes after an inspection uncovered structural cracks.

It comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that thousands of Boeing’s 737 aircraft needed to be inspected for ‘pickle fork’ cracks.

The pickle forks are the components that attach the wings to the plane body and the FAA said the problem had developed on a number of US aerospace firm’s older planes.

It called for all planes that had flown more than 30,000 flights to be inspected for the issue within a week. It said planes that have flown between 26,000 and 29,999 flights should be inspected in the longer term.

Boeing said more than 1,000 planes required immediate inspection and less than 5% qualified for repairs.

In a statement, Ryanair said it had inspected 70 of its older aircraft and found that less than 5% required repairs.

It said Boeing is currently carrying them out and insisted this would not affect its operating fleet as it has already moved to its winter schedule.

“Ryanair will continue to inspect the remainder of its fleet, in full compliance with the Airworthiness Directive, and we are confident that the tiny number of pickle fork cracks, if any, will not affect either Ryanair’s fleet, its flights, or its schedules,” it said.

It comes as all Boeing’s 737 MAX planes remain grounded in the wake of two fatal crashes.