Ryanair is in no hurry to sign a new order for more Boeing MAX aircraft. The airline and airframer are back at the negotiation table, but Group CEO Michael O’Leary said on the sidelines of the Airline ls 4 Europe Aviation Summit in Brussels on Wednesday that it could take six months to a year before an order could be signed.
The Irish low-cost carrier walked away from negotiations after it found Boeing unwilling to discuss a significant discount. For months, nothing happened. Last week, The Financial Times reported that negotiations are on again.
“They approached us some two months ago, we started those discussions. We are still at the possibility for an order for the MAX 8200 or the MAX 10. It could be either, I am agnostic,” O’Leary told AirInsight.
He added: “I would like to have more -8200s, because that’s what we have. But if they want us to buy a bigger aircraft with thirty extra seats, I want a discount for those seats because if I fill the volume of those extra seats lowers my yields.”
It seems illogical that Boeing would lower the price now that the MAX has won several orders over the past months, including from Qatar Airways, Alaska, WestJet, United, and Japan Airlines last week, plus a few smaller ones. “There is no doubt that Airbus is selling more. I suspect that Boeing had so many delivery problems with the MAX and 787 that now that they are getting out of the way, they are back on the sales path again.”
“I am not under any particular pressure to sign a deal. We are getting fifty aircraft in the summer of 2023, fifty in 2024, and thirty in 2025. But I do recognize we do need more aircraft in 2026 through 2030. I have to retire some older aircraft, and at the same time, I want to grow.”
