Ryanair’s shareholders have approved the airline’s purchase of 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
The vote was virtually unanimous with 99.93 per cent in favour of the aircraft order at an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin today.
The deal with Boeing, which is worth $22 billion based on current list prices, includes 100 firm orders for the aircraft and another 100 options. They will be configured to include 197 seats which will be eight more than the current Ryanair 737-800s.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary described the new aircraft order as a “game-changer”.
“These new game-changer aircraft will allow Ryanair to lower our costs and airfares, while improving our customer experience with more leg room,” said O’Leary.
The order, which was announced in September, will increase Ryanair’s fleet to around 520 aircraft by the end of the delivery cycle in 2024 with the aim of increasing traffic from this year’s expected figure of 82 million passengers to more than 150 million per year over the next 10 years.