Initial discussions in the year 2021 was about ordering the 230-seat Max 10 aircraft, but year 2023 brought a different story, Ryanair Holdings plc today ordered 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10 aircraft (150 firm and 150 options) on 9 May 2023, for delivery between 2027 to 2033.
When finalised, and subject to all options being exercised, this deal is valued at over $40bn at current list prices and is the largest order ever placed by an Irish Company for US manufactured goods. Given the size and scale of the transaction, it will be subject to shareholder approval at Ryanair’s 14 Sept. AGM.
Boeing’s new fuel efficient, B737-MAX-10 aircraft have 228 seats (21% more than the B737NG) and the phased deliveries between 2027 and 2033 will enable Ryanair to create more than 10,000 new high-paid jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers, to facilitate disciplined traffic growth of 80% from 168m in year end March 2023 to 300m p.a. by March 2034.
However, plan of ordering such huge number of planes date back to Covid-19 period , when Ryanair's Negotiations with Boeing for a Max 10 order had ended without any agreement on the pricing.
That time, Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair group chief executive, to put pressure on Boeing, said a deal was unlikely to be achieved that year but the airline could order up to 250 new planes if the price was lowered.
On 06 September 2021 , Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary had released statements saying,
“We are disappointed we couldn’t reach agreement with Boeing on a MAX10 order. However, Boeing have a more optimistic outlook on aircraft pricing than we do, and we have a disciplined track record of not paying high prices for aircraft."
"We have a more than sufficient order pipeline to allow us to grow strongly over the next 5 years with a Boeing 737 fleet, which will rise to over 600 aircraft and will enable Ryanair to capitalise on the extraordinary growth opportunities that are emerging all over Europe as the Continent recovers from the Covid pandemic."
"We do not share Boeing’s optimistic pricing outlook, although this may explain why in recent weeks other large Boeing customers such as Delta and Jet2, have been placing new orders with Airbus, rather than Boeing”.
Ryanair expects 50% of these deliveries will replace older B737NGs, which will allow Ryanair to continue to operate one of Europe’s youngest, most fuel efficient, and environmentally sustainable aircraft fleets.
In addition to very significant revenue growth this new order offers Ryanair, the extra seats (coupled with greater fuel and carbon efficiency) will further widen Ryanair’s unit-cost advantage over all EU competitor airlines.
This new order will enable Ryanair to deliver sustained traffic and tourism growth at lower fares (and lower emissions per flight) across all European countries where Ryanair continues to lead the post Covid traffic, tourism and jobs recovery.
Given the strength of the Ryanair Group’s balance sheet, its industry leading credit rating and the approx. 2-year gap between the last delivery of B-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft in FY25, and the first MAX-10 delivery in FY27, the Group anticipates that capex will be substantially funded from internal cashflows, although the Group will remain opportunistic in its fleet financing strategy.
Boeing President & CEO, Dave Calhoun, said:
“The Boeing-Ryanair partnership is one of the most productive in commercial aviation history, enabling both companies to succeed and expand affordable travel to hundreds of millions of people. Nearly a quarter century after our companies signed our first direct airplane purchase, this landmark deal will further strengthen our partnership. We are committed to delivering for Ryanair and helping Europe’s largest airline group achieve its goals by offering its customers the lowest fares in Europe.”
Ryanair Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:
“Ryanair is pleased to sign this record aircraft order for up to 300 MAX-10s with our aircraft partner Boeing. These new, fuel efficient, greener technology aircraft offer 21% more seats, burn 20% less fuel and are 50% quieter than our B737-NGs. This order, coupled with our remaining Gamechanger deliveries, will create 10,000 new jobs for highly paid aviation professionals over the next decade, and these jobs will be located across all of Europe’s main economies where Ryanair is currently the No.1 or No.2 airline.
In addition to delivering significant revenue and traffic growth across Europe, we expect these new, larger, more efficient, greener, aircraft to drive further unit cost savings, which will be passed on to passengers in lower air fares. The extra seats, lower fuel burn and more competitive aircraft pricing supported by our strong balance sheet, will widen the cost gap between Ryanair and competitor EU airlines for many years to come, making the Boeing MAX-10 the ideal growth aircraft order for Ryanair, our passengers, our people and our shareholders.”
