Ryanair commits for 175 new Boeing 737-800s

Ryanair (Dublin) has committed to purchase 175 new Boeing 737-800s pending the completion of the final contract.

Boeing issued this statement:

Boeing (Chicago) is delighted that Ryanair has announced a commitment to order 175 Next-Generation 737-800s for the airline’s fleet expansion. When finalized, the agreement will be worth $15.6 billion at list prices and will be posted to the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website as a firm order.

“This agreement is an amazing testament to the value that the Next-Generation 737 brings to Ryanair,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Ray Conner. “We are pleased that the Next-Generation 737, as the most efficient, most reliable large single-aisle airplane flying today, has been and will continue to be the cornerstone of the Ryanair fleet. Our partnership with this great European low-cost carrier is of the utmost importance to everyone at The Boeing Company and I could not be more proud to see it extended for years to come.”

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary and Conner will hold a joint press conference today to discuss the announcement at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (Starlight Roof), 301 Park Avenue, New York, at 10:15 am ET.

Meanwhile Ryanair issued this statement:

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), today (March 19) signed an agreement with the Boeing Company to purchase 175 new Next Generation 737-800 airplanes. When finalized, the deal will be worth nearly $15.6 billion at current list prices, and will allow Ryanair to grow its airline to more than 400 airplanes, serving more than 100 million passengers per year across Europe by the end of the delivery stream in 2018.

The agreement was signed by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President CEO Ray Conner in New York (March 19). Upon approval by Ryanair’s shareholders, the purchase will become Boeing’s largest deal to date in 2013 and will be the largest ever aircraft order from a European airline. It will sustain thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs in Boeing and its supplier companies and will represent the largest ever capital investment by an Irish company in U.S. manufacturing and U.S. jobs.

These Boeing airplanes will create more than 3,000 new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers at Ryanair’s growing number of aircraft bases across Europe. Approximately 75 of these new aircraft will replace some of Ryanair’s existing fleet of 305 Boeing 737s, but the remainder will drive new growth of Ryanair’s fleet of young, highly efficient airplanes. These airplanes will allow Ryanair to grow its low-cost airline service by about 5 percent per annum over the next several years, taking Ryanair’s traffic to over 100 million passengers by March 2019.

As Ryanair continues to plan its future as Europe’s low-cost airline leader, it continues to evaluate the benefits of Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft which enters service in 2017.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Boeing 737-8AS WL EI-CSB (msn 29917) turns on to the runway at the Dublin base. This airframe has since gone on to VARIG (2nd) as PR-VBB.

Ryanair: