Ryanair swoops on Buzz in €5m deal

RYANAIR swooped yesterday to pick up rival low-cost carrier Buzz for just €5m from KLM, while simultaneously ordering 100 new Boeing jets boosting its fleet to 250 aircraft within eight years.

Ryanair ordered a further 22 Boeing 737-800s and increased its options by a further 78, bringing total orders of 737-800s to 250 since January 2002, at a list price of €15 billion.

Of those, 125 are firm orders and the rest are options. The 22 newly-ordered airplanes are scheduled for delivery in 2004 and 2005.