Ryanair shareholders have approved the purchase of a new fleet of more efficient aircraft.
The airline will be the lead customer for the new Boeing ‘gamechanger’ 737 MAX aircraft after shareholders approved plans to purchase up to 200 of the new planes at a cost of $22 billion.
Ryanair has put in 100 firm orders and has an option for a further 100 of the planes, which have 197 seats (eight more than Ryanair’s existing 737-800s), more leg room, new Boeing Sky Interiors, and engines that reduce fuel consumption by up to 18% and reduce noise emissions by 40%.
These aircraft will further reduce Ryanair’s industry leading unit costs, and these savings will be passed on via lower fares to Ryanair’s customers.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: "Ryanair is proud and honoured to become the lead operator of Boeing’s 737 ‘gamechanger’ aircraft.
"This order will expand our fleet to approx 520 aircraft by 2024 and create another 10,000 new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers in Europe, while allowing us to grow our traffic to over 150 million per annum.
"These new ‘gamechanger’ aircraft will allow Ryanair to lower our costs and airfares, while improving our customer experience with more leg room and Boeing Sky Interiors, as part of our ‘Always Getting Better’ customer experience improvement programme."
