Ryanair to buy 200 new planes

The shareholders of Ryanair have agreed at an Extraordinary General Meeting to purchase 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, 100 in a binding order and 100 as an option. If the deal is exacted in full, it will amount to $22 billion. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s CEO said that the order will increase the carrier’s fleet to some 520 airplanes by 2024 and will help it create 10,000 new jobs for pilots, crew members and technical personnel in Europe. It will also allow Ryanair to increase the number of passengers to 150 million a year. He added that the new planes will help lower costs and ticket prices. The new planes will feature 197 seats (eight more than in the 737-800 that Ryanair currently uses). Last month, O’Learly told ISBnews that Ryanair could increase its market share in the Polish market up to 50 percent from the current 30 percent. Ryanair services 1,600 flights a day out of 69 bases, connecting 186 airports in 30 countries.