Ever since the US FAA approved the 737 MAX to be ungrounded, there has been much consideration about the way forward. As first steps, American Airlines is working on upgrading their 737 MAX aircraft at their Tulsa facility and will be doing employee demonstration flights to showcase the safety of the MAX aircraft. 737 MAX 8200

AA has already operated a media flight with over 100 journalists on board to showcase their efforts to the media. AA intend to bring up the 737 MAX on commercial operations as early as the holidays 2020. Gol Airlines of Brazil is all set to bring the MAX for the general public on or around December 10, 2020.

Ryanair places 737 MAX 8200 order with Boeing

There has then been the question about when will order flow return, a question that was answered pretty quickly as well. Ryanair, an existing customer of the MAX, came calling. Ryanair is the launch customer for the high-capacity 737-8 variant, having placed its first order for 100 airplanes and 100 options in late 2014, followed by firm orders of 10 airplanes in 2017 and 25 in 2018. Less than 24 hours ago, Boeing and Ryanair announced a firm order for 75 additional 737 MAX aircraft, bringing their total firm order book to 210 jets.

Ryanair’s 737 8-200 are in a dense high capacity variant, providing additional seats for their airline in a configuration more suited to their business model. The 737 8-200 will enable Ryanair to configure its aircraft with 197 seats and will reduce fuel consumption by 16 per cent compared to the airline’s previous airplanes.

The event was important enough for Boeing to organize a signing ceremony, and for Michael O’Leary to fly down to Washington D.C. to be a part of the event.

On the occasion of the signing of the order, Michael O’Leary, the Group CEO of Ryanair said,

“Ryanair’s board and people are confident that our customers will love these new aircraft. Passengers will enjoy the new interiors, more generous leg room, lower fuel consumption and quieter noise performance. And, most of all, our customers will love the lower fares, which these aircraft will enable Ryanair to offer starting in 2021 and for the next decade, as Ryanair leads the recovery of Europe’s aviation and tourism industries

I can only imagine the sweet pricing Ryanair would have gotten on these orders, and to be one of the most visible airline brands out there to throw their weight behind the MAX after it’s ungrounding. Boeing lost some orders of the 737 MAX as the 20-month long grounding which had 5263 orders in total for the aircraft as of October 2020.

The last big order signing for the aircraft came at the Paris Air Show 2019 where British Airways signed a large letter of intent for 200 737 MAX. However, we haven’t heard of that one coming to fruition, yet.

Ryanair says,

The Boeing 737 MAX-8200 aircraft is a “Gamechanger” for Ryanair’s customers and Europe’s consumers. This aircraft, when delivered, will be the most audited, most regulated in aviation history. The aircraft performance is exceptional, as it delivers 8 more seats per flight, yet burns 16% less fuel, and lowers noise emissions by 40%. This new 197 seat Boeing aircraft is the perfect sized platform to allow Ryanair expand and grow its low fare services across Europe over the next decade. This new Boeing order helps Ryanair to lower its cost base and return to growth across Europe in 2021, by delivering lower fares to customers, as well as a lower CO2 and noise footprint, making Ryanair Europe’s greenest, cleanest airline, and helping Ryanair reach its target of being carbon neutral by 2050.

Ryanair expects to take the first deliveries of these aircraft from early 2021 and complete the delivery by December 2024. Here is an extract from Ryanair’s fleet plan, and as you can see, they are all in on this aircraft.

Bottomline

Ryanair is going to go for 75 more 737 MAX aircraft, and Boeing is going to be more out there with this aircraft trying to win deals to make up for lost time against their chief competition, the Airbus A320 family.  The deal establishes that Boeing is back in the market and intends to go toe to toe again.

What do you make of the Ryanair 737 MAX 8200 order? Which airline is next, you think?

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