Ryanair Fleet Expansion.Ryanair to spend €4.5bn on 125 new Boeings
Ryanair to spend €4.5bn on 125 new Boeings
(from Irish Independent 24.02.05)
LOW-COST airline Ryanair is expected to announce in London today that it has placed firm orders for 125 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft at a cost of $6bn (€4.5bn).
Ryanair chairman, the Texas-based businessman David Bonderman, and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary are set to announce the massive order at a press conference in London.
The fast-expanding airline already has firm orders for 150 new aircraft from the Seattle-based Boeing company and has an option to order a further 125. Now the airline has decided to turn the option on the 125 aircraft into a firm order.
Mr O'Leary has decided to strike at a time when the dollar-euro exchange favours Euorpean businesses ordering in the US.
The aircraft work out at about $48m (€36.4m) each. Boeing 737-800s are considered attractive to low-cost airlines as they are single-aisle craft which suit short-haul services. Ryanair is currently in the process of taking delivery of 150 new Boeing 737-800s. Ironically, Ryanair is having difficulty persuading its existing pilots to train to fly the new aircraft.
Relations between the airline and the Irish Airline Pilots Association have been strained because of a Labour Court case taken by the union to improve the terms and conditions of Ryanair's pilots.
Stock broking analysts say Ryanair is expanding so fast that it needs a steady supply of planes.