Ryanair shareholders approve Boeing 737 “Gamechanger” order at EGM

Ryanair today (28 Nov) announced that its order to purchase up to 200 Boeing “gamechanger” 737 MAX aircraft (100 firm & 100 options)  has been approved by 99.93% of shareholders who voted at its EGM in Dublin this morning. When finalised (and if all options are exercised) this deal will be valued at over $22bn at current list prices.

Ryanair is the lead customer for this new Boeing aircraft which will feature 197 seats (8 more than Ryanair’s existing 737-800s), more leg room, new Boeing Sky Interiors, and CFM LEAP-1B engines, which will reduce fuel consumption by up to 18% in Ryanair’s configuration 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, which will now grow from 82m in 2014 to over 150m customers p.a. by the end of the delivery stream in FY2024.

Ryanair’s 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 150m p.a.

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.

We wish to sincerely thank our Board and shareholders for their overwhelming support for this new “gamechanger” aircraft order.”