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Ryanair could follow the news that it will purchase an additional 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft with an additional order from the US aircraft manufacturer.
The Irish airline group confirmed Thursday that it will buy 75 more 737 Max jets from Boeing, bringing its total order for the plane to 210, for a total value of $ 22 billion (18.1 billion euros).
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair Holdings, told a news conference that the company was “in a deeper dialogue about the Max 10” with Boeing. He indicated that a new order for planes could follow Thursday’s announcement.
Ryanair CFO Neil Sorahan said the group liked the Max 10, the newest version of the Boeing jet.
“We would like to be buyers of the Max 10 at the right price and if the time is right,” he said.
Sorahan, who attended the announcement in Washington, DC with O’Leary, Ryanair Chairman Stan McCarthy and Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun, warned it could be next year or more before the group confirmed a request for the Max 10.
Meanwhile, he said the Irish company was pressuring Boeing to deliver the first 25-30 of the Max 8200s it ordered in time for next summer, when Ryanair expects air travel to begin to recover from the impact of Covid-19.
Safety
The confirmation that Ryanair would carry an additional 75 737 Max 8200s came a day after the first commercial passengers had flown on the aircraft since American Airlines put it into service.
Ryanair’s confirmation of its plans to purchase the plane is the first firm order for the Max following a 20-month grounding by air travel safety regulators triggered by two accidents, in Eithiopia and Indonesia. that killed 346 people.
O’Leary described the Max as the most vetted and audited aircraft in aviation history. “Forty-six million people have already flown on the Max plane,” he added.
The Max had been in service for several months before being grounded. Regulators in the EU, US, Canada and others have been working with Boeing to restore the aircraft’s airworthiness since March 2019.
Ryanair has already committed to buying 135 of the Max 8200. Thursday’s announcement confirmed that it would take a long-standing option for 75 more.
“This will bring our fleet to 600 in the next five years,” O’Leary said at the press conference.
Recovery
Sorahan said Ryanair believed passenger numbers would rebound to 2019 levels, when they reached 149 million, in two to three years. The company aims to carry 200 million passengers in its financial year ending March 31, 2026.
O’Leary said Ryanair would pass the lower costs of flying the Max as lower fares. The aircraft Ryanair is buying will carry 200 people, eight more than the planes it now flies, while burning 16% less fuel.
The airline said the deal included a modest discount to compensate the low-cost giant for the delivery delays of the Max that resulted from its grounding.
Neither party disclosed the size of the discounts, but at launch Mr. O’Leary described them as “too modest.” Most analysts believe they will have been important.
Ryanair confirmed last month that Boeing had already returned 250 million euros last year to compensate for the delays in the delivery of the Max, a result of the plane’s grounding.
The Irish airline was aiming for the first of its Max jets to arrive in time for the summer of 2019, which means next year’s delivery will be delayed by two years.
Sorahan said Boeing would increase its delivery rate starting in 2021, with 80 more to arrive next winter.
Boeing boss Mr. Calhoun said the US aerospace giant would focus on safely delivering the build-up to Ryanair and other customers.
“We firmly believe in this aircraft and will continue the work to regain the trust of all our customers,” he added.
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