By Jace Moseley
Ryanair Orders an Additional 75 Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft
Dublin-based Ryanair became the first airline to place an order for Boeing 737 MAX aircraft since the aircraft was ungrounded by the Federal Aviation Administration in mid-November. The low-cost airline placed an order for 75 of the aircraft, bringing the airline’s outstanding order total to 210 of the newest Boeing narrow body.
The airline’s order of 75 aircraft was all for the special MAX-8200 variant. According to the Wall Street Journal, the order is valued at close to $7 billion based on current list prices. It should be noted that oftentimes airlines do not pay the full list price of the aircraft when placing orders such as this.
The carrier will be the launch airline for the type and currently is one of a small list of airlines with the variant on order. VietJet, a Vietnamese ultra-low-cost carrier is the only other carrier with a large order of the MAX-8200.
Ryanair will lay out their newest aircraft in a 197 seat configuration, an increase of 8 seats from their 189 seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline has stated they expect to take delivery of their first of 210 new aircraft in early 2021, with all deliveries taking place by the end of 2024.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair CEO, said, “We are pleased and proud to place this enlarged order with Boeing, who have successfully completed the return to service of the Boeing MAX aircraft. The Boeing MAX is a fabulous aircraft with more seats, more legroom, lower fares, lower fuel consumption, and it sets incredible environmental standards, including 40% less noise and lower CO2 emissions. We hope to take delivery of at least 50 of these aircraft in 2021, subject to Boeing recovering its manufacturing output to deliver them.”
The carrier has stated that the aircraft will be highly regulated and audited and will return savings to the customers in the form of low fares. In a press release, the airline stated that the MAX aircraft burns 16% less fuel and produces 40% fewer noise emissions than the current fleet.
The high-density variant of the MAX 8 features a maximum capacity of 200 seats, specially built for low and ultra-low-cost carriers. Boeing lists the seating capacity of the normal 737 MAX 8 as 189 passengers in a single-class layout. The aircraft also features an extra set of exit doors to properly allow for the extra passengers.
Although the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has not officially recertified the aircraft for operation in the European Union, but this approval is expected to come in January 2021.
Being from Seattle, Jace was bitten by the aviation bug at a young age and never outgrew it. Although none of his family is in the industry, he has always wanted to work in aviation in some capacity. He currently in college studying air traffic management.
