Reports: Ryanair Set To Announce $10 Bln Order For Boeing 737 MAX Jetliner

(RTTNews) - Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair Holdings plc (RYA.L) is set to announce an order valued at $10 billion as part of its fleet expansion for about 100 of the new 737 MAX 8 jetliners from aerospace giant Boeing, Inc. (BA), according to media reports on Sunday. The aircraft will be a modified version that will include an additional 11 seats that will lead to a total seating of up to 200.

The order is valued at about $10.4 billion on the basis of the list price of $104 million, according to the Boeing website. However, such large orders could be negotiated at hefty discounts.

As discussions went on, Ryanair has been urging Boeing for the additional seats in order to finalize the deal. Boeing is said to have agreed in July to build a 737 MAX 8 variant with 200 seats instead of the normal 189 seats. The order could also be expanded to about 150 aircraft.

The announcement is expected to be made as early as Monday morning at a joint press conference in New York Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Boeing CEO Ray Conner.

Dublin-based Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of only the 737-800s. This will be Ryanair's first order for the new 737 MAX 8s. It had last year finalized an order for 175 current generation 737-800s, the first of which is expected to be delivered later this month. It will expand Ryanair's fleet to more than 400 737-800s.

Ryanair describes itself as Europe's favorite low fares airline, operating more than 1,600 daily flights connecting 186 destinations in 30 countries.

Boeing's 737 MAX, the top selling narrow-body single-aisle planes, competes with the A320neo's manufactured by Boeing's European rival Airbus Group N.V. (EADSF, EADSY). The 737 MAX is a new-engine variant of the world's best selling Boeing 737 airplane and builds on the strengths of Next-Generation 737.

Boeing's 737 MAX family of aircrafts are powered with the latest-technology LEAP-1B engines from CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric Co. (GE) and Safran SA. Meanwhile, the A320neos offer a choice of offers a choice of either engines from CFM or Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

Chicago, Illinois-based Boeing had revealed in May 2014 that it has breached the 2000 mark for orders for its 737 MAX super-efficient single-aisle airplane from 41 customers worldwide, including from airlines and aircraft leasing companies. The orders are valued at $209 billion at list prices. The company also has commitments for more than 250 additional 737 MAX airplanes.

The unprecedented demand for 737 MAX is fueled by air traffic growth and the need for more fuel-efficient airplanes. The aircraft has been quite popular due to its 14 percent more fuel efficiency and lowest operating costs with an eight percent operating cost per seat advantage over tomorrow's competition.

BA closed Friday's regular trading session at $124.69, down $0.77 or 0.61% on a volume of 4.92 million shares.