Ryanair boss admits entering talks with Boeing, Airbus to buy new planes
Michael O'Leary: in talks with Boeing and Airbus for six months
RYANAIR has been in talks to buy planes with both Boeing and Airbus for the last six months but has yet to make any progress on price, chief executive Michael O'Leary told investors last week.
The airline is scheduled to take delivery of about 100 Boeing 737-800 planes by 2012, and is making provisions for growth beyond then.
"We started the initial talks with Boeing and Airbus before Christmas," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said, speaking as the airline announced its full-year results.
"Both of them at that stage were telling us how big the order book was between now and 2012, with thousands of aircraft orders into India, North American refleeting, all that kind of nonsense.
"They weren't yet where we would want them to be to discuss serious numbers of our aircraft."
Ryanair notoriously secured its last aircraft order in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 bombings on New York, achieving huge discounts from Boeing during a global aviation downturn caused by American tourists' fears of further terror attacks.
Mr O'Leary said that he didn't think the latest round of talks would "go anywhere" unless there was experienced "some significant painful retrenchment in the industry over this winter".
Asked about the possibility of ordering planes for a low-cost transAtlantic service, Mr O'Leary said that he would not "contaminate" a Ryanair order with long-haul planes, although he did not completely dismiss the possibility.
"Long-haul has nothing to do with Ryanair," he said.
"However, clearly if there's soem sort of a downturn in the industy and aircraft are parked up in the desert, the possibility of a long-haul, low-cost, low fares carrier will get closer," he said.
- Laura Noonan
