Order announcements continue to flow from the Paris airshow, with Boeing and Ryanair finalising a firm order for 175 737-800 aircraft.
The order, originally announced as a commitment in March, is Boeing’s largest ever aircraft order from a European airline. O’Leary flew into the Paris airshow on one of Ryanair’s 303 737-800s, which bore a special livery celebrating the agreement.
“Ryanair is proud to buy Boeing, who make great aircraft, and the 737-800 has been the foundation of Ryanair’s recent successful growth due to its great engineering and phenomenal reliability,” said O’Leary.
“These 175 new aircraft will enable us to lower costs and airfares even further. They provide Ryanair with the additional capacity to exploit substantial growth opportunities that now exist as many of Europe’s flag and regional airlines are restructuring and are reducing their short-haul operations.”
Ryanair is understood to be looking to place another order for, this time for 200 aircraft, before the end of the year.
Boeing and aircraft lessor CIT Group have announced an order for 30 737 MAX 8s. The order for the 737 MAX 8s will give CIT Aerospace one of the youngest fleets, which comprises 128 Boeing aircraft of a total fleet of 350.
Skymark Airlines has selected the 737 MAX for its fleet renewal program, becoming Japan’s first airline to choose the 737 MAX.
Skymark announced its intention to select the Boeing 737 MAX to support its expansion in the Japanese market. Based at its Haneda Airport hub in Tokyo, Skymark Airlines currently operates a fleet of 30 737-800s on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services and other lessors.
Meantime, the first delivery of the 737 MAX 8 to launch customer Southwest Airlines will be a quarter earlier than originally scheduled, now due in the third quarter of 2017 instead of fourth quarter.
