Ryanair has ended a price feud with Boeing to confirm a deal for 300 new planes which, the no frills carrier said, was a record US order by an Irish company.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers said it was buying 150 737 MAX 10 aircraft with an option for a further 150 for delivery between 2027 to 2033.
The list price for the planes would total $40bn (£31.7bn), Ryanair revealed, but the sum due would likely be significantly below that figure given the size of the order.
Ryanair said the phased nature of the deal meant it would support its ambitions to create 10,000 new jobs.
It believed the order would allow it to almost double its traffic to 300 million passengers per year by March 2034 from
the 168 million flown to the end of March this year.
The MAX variant aircraft have 228 seats – a 20% improvement on its non-MAX aircraft which currently dominate the fleet.
It has already begun the process of bolstering its fleet with an earlier version of the new MAX planes after they were cleared to fly again in the wake of two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, in 2018 and 2019 respectively, that left 346 people dead.
The MAX variants are a popular choice for Ryanair as they offer greater fuel efficiency alongside the extra seats.
The MAX 10 aircraft, yet to be certified, has long been in Ryanair’s sights but chief executive Michael O’Leary previously pulled talks with the company 18 months ago, claiming the price sought did not match Ryanair’s valuation.
He remains upset over Boeing’s failure to meet its existing delivery targets but said on Tuesday: “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 No1 or No2 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.”