Low Cost & Regional

Ryanair orders 75 additional Boeing 737 max aircraft

Boeing 737 max Ryanair summer

Ryanair has placed a firm order for 75 additional Boeing 737 max aircraft, increasing its order book to 210.

According to Boeing, Ryanair again selected the 737 8-200, a higher-capacity version of the 737-8, citing its additional seats, improved fuel efficiency and environmental performance.

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary commented: “Ryanair’s board and people are confident that our customers will love these new aircraft. Passengers will enjoy the new interiors, more generous leg room, lower fuel consumption and quieter noise performance.

“And, most of all, our customers will love the lower fares, which these aircraft will enable Ryanair to offer starting in 2021 and for the next decade, as Ryanair leads the recovery of Europe’s aviation and tourism industries.”

O’Leary and Ryanair leaders joined the Boeing team for a signing ceremony in Washington D.C. where both companies acknowledged Covid-19’s impact on air traffic in the near-term but expressed confidence in the resilience and strength of the passenger demand over the long term.

“As soon as the Covid-19 virus recedes – and it likely will in 2021 with the rollout of multiple effective vaccines – Ryanair and our partner airports across Europe will – with these environmentally efficient aircraft – rapidly restore flights and schedules, recover lost traffic and help the nations of Europe recover their tourism industries, and get young people back to work across the cities, beaches and ski resorts of the European Union,” O’Leary said.

Ryanair is the launch customer for the high-capacity 737-8 variant having placed its first order for 100 aircraft and 100 options in late 2014. This was followed by firm orders of 10 aircraft in 2017 and 25 in 2018. Boeing says the 737 8-200 will enable Ryanair to configure its aircraft with 197 seats, increasing revenue potential and reduce fuel consumption by 16 percent compared to the airline’s previous aircraft.

“Ryanair will continue to play a leading role in our industry when Europe recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and air traffic returns to growth across the continent. We are gratified that Ryanair is once again placing its confidence in the Boeing 737 family and building their future fleet with this enlarged firm order,” said Dave Calhoun, president and CEO of The Boeing Company.

“Boeing remains focused on safely returning the full 737 fleet to service and on delivering the backlog of airplanes to Ryanair and our other customers. We firmly believe in this airplane, and we will continue the work to re-earn the trust of all of our customers.”

FAA recently lifted the order that halted commercial operations of Boeing 737-8s and 737-9s.

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