Ryanair happy to wait for Boeing deal and put Airbus switch thoughts on ice

Michael O'Leary said his "Plan B" was to wait for Max prices to fall rather than turn to Airbus

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said the airline is not turning its back on Boeing.

Ryanair has said it is willing to wait years for Boeing to drop its prices before placing a big new plane order; with group CEO Michael O’Leary downplaying the chance of a deal with rival planemaker Airbus.

Ryanair, one of Boeing's biggest customers, said on Monday it had ended talks over a new order of 737 Max-10 jets worth tens of billions of dollars after the airline said the prices on offer were too high.

"We're not wasting any time on those Max-10 discussions nor will we for a period of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 years until we get to the next crisis," Mr O'Leary said.

"The talks can always be restarted, but only when Boeing realise they need to price competitively," he said.

The rare decision to go public over big-ticket plane negotiations comes after months of wrangling that had already delayed a deal for the largest version of the 737-Max.

A large new Ryanair order would have provided a boost to the US planemaker as it rebuilds confidence in the Max, an aircraft which was grounded for 20 months until November after two fatal crashes.

It would also speed a tentative industry recovery from the Covid pandemic.

Asked if Ryanair might consider Boeing's rival Airbus in the medium term, Mr O'Leary said the airline would but that his "Plan B" was to wait for Max prices to fall rather than turn to Airbus.

"There is always a prospect that Airbus become a significant supplier. But, there is a chance that the Chinese - COMAC - could become a significant supplier to Ryanair in the medium term," he said.

Ryanair is already Europe’s largest Max customer with 210 of the 197-seat Max 8-200 on order. It has dangled a fresh order potentially worth $33bn (€28bn) at list prices for up to 250 of the 230-seat Max-10.

Meanwhile, Mr O’Leary warned that British airports – unlike the rest of Europe - will struggle to cope with Christmas traffic due to the impact of the pandemic and Brexit border controls.

- Reuters