Irish Low Cost Carrier Is The World's Largest 737-800 Customer

Boeing and Ryanair celebrated the Irish low-cost carrier's 375th direct delivery of a Next-Generation 737-800 Tuesday. Ryanair is the largest Next Generation 737-800 customer in the world having ordered more than 530 of the airplane type.

"As Europe's largest airline, the reliability and customer appeal of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft has been the cornerstone of our successful growth over the last 16 years and we are proud to take delivery of our 375th Boeing 737-800 aircraft today," said Mick Hickey, Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer. "Our current and future Boeing orders will allow us to grow our fleet to over 540 all-Boeing aircraft, which will see our traffic double from 91 million annual customers last year to 180 million per annum by 2024."

The Dublin based airline is this year celebrating its 30th anniversary of operations since its first flight in 1985. Today, Ryanair is the largest all-Boeing operator in Europe.

"A key component of Ryanair's success has been the safe, reliable and economic performance of the Next-Generation 737-800," said Todd Nelp, vice president of European Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are honored by Ryanair's continued confidence in our products as we celebrate this significant milestone in our shared history."

Ryanair is also the launch customer of the 737 MAX 200, the newest member of the 737 MAX family, ordering 100 airplanes in 2014. A variant based on the successful 737 MAX 8, the 737 MAX 200 can accommodate up to 200 seats, increasing revenue potential and providing customers up to 20 percent better fuel efficiency per seat than today's most efficient single-aisle airplanes.

Ryanair operates more than 1,600 flights per day and is projected to carry more than 105 million passengers this year. As well as 100 737 MAX 200s, the carrier also has more than 150 unfilled orders for 737-800s.

(Source: Boeing news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com