Airlines Ryanair orders 75 Boeing 737 MAX-8

A firm order for 75 new 737 MAX-8 aircraft has been signed by Ryanair and the manufacturer. With the new order, Ryanair´s orderbook at Boeing now measures 210 aircraft. Again, Ryanair chose the 737 8-200 variant, which offers more capacity compared to the normal 737-8 version.

A signing ceremony was held in Washington D.C. and Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary and Ryanair leaders attended the festivities. Both companies, according to Boeing, acknowledged the impacts COVID-19 has on the aviation industry but also underlined their confidence in the resilience and strength of passenger demand in the long run.

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.“

Dave Calhoun, president and CEO of The Boeing Company added: "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.“

Ryanair ordered its first 100 aircraft for the Boeing 737-8 back in late 2014 with 100 additional options. In 2017, the airline ordered 10 firm aircraft and in the following year 25. Ryanair was set to become launch customer of the more dense version, but shortly before that, the aircraft were grounded due to the two fatal crashes.

The Irish Low-Cost-Carrier has configured its 737 8-200 with 197 seats. This configuration increased revenue potential, Boeing said, since more passengers can be accommodated on the same aircraft. The reduced fuel-resumption of the aircraft will also help being operational profitable.

Recently, the two aviation authorities in the United States and in Brasil allowed re-certification of the 737 MAX family, after the MCAS and various other problems were solved. Now, the manufacturer is aiming at starting deliveries very soon.

"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," Calhoun said.