Ryanair announces landmark order for 300 new Boeing 737 MAX-10 jets
The airline’s latest aircraft order is set to create 10,000 jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers
A recently-delivered Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX-8 at London Stansted Airport
Low-cost giant Ryanair announced today that it had agreed a deal with Boeing for up to 300 new Boeing 737 MAX-10 jets, with a value of $40 billion at list prices.
The agreement, which comprises 150 firm orders plus 150 options, signals a major expansion of the airline’s fleet as the travel industry rebounds.
Ryanair said the deal would create more than 10,000 jobs at the airline, and enable it to almost double its passenger numbers from 168 million a year to 300 million a year over the next decade.
The 737 MAX-10 is the newest and largest aircraft in Boeing’s 737 MAX family, and Ryanair’s new 737 MAX-10s will be configured to carry 228 passengers - significantly more than its existing fleet of over 500 Boeing 737NGs and 737 MAX-8s, which seat 189 and 197 passengers respectively.
The airline’s group chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said: “These new, fuel-efficient, greener technology aircraft offer 21% more seats, burn 20% less fuel and are 50% quieter than our B737NGs. 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.”
The recent boom in demand for air travel has led to industry-wide staff shortages and supply chain issues. Airlines throughout Europe are now bracing themselves for a record summer season, following strong bookings in recent months. The broader economic headwinds have not dampened that demand.
Ryanair has led the airline industry’s recovery from the pandemic, and is now forecasting an after-tax profit of between €1.3 and €1.4 billion for the financial year ending in March.