Ryanair has revealed plans to expand its fleet as part of a wide-ranging strategy to push its low-cost services further into the mainstream European market.
Michael O'Leary, chief executive of the Dublin, Ireland-based carrier, says that the airline is "-actively negotiating with Boeing and Airbus" for new aircraft to "-continue to grow the business 30% year-on-year". He says that this would require adding up to five aircraft a year to support the opening up of a similar number of routes, primarily from Dublin and London-Stansted. O'Leary says that a decision could be announced by the end of this year.
Talks centre on an order for 20-40 aircraft, either Next Generation Boeing 737-700/800s or Airbus A319/A320s, to replace the 16-strong Boeing 737-200 fleet. O'Leary cautions that the airline may hold out for secondhand aircraft, such as 737-300s, which he believes will be affordable around 2002 with the possibility of another market downturn.
"We can fly the -200s up to 2002, when they'll be nearly 20 years old anyway-we hope to have 40 aircraft and 8-10 million passengers by then," O'Leary says.
Ryanair will step up capacity by 40% from November, aided by four more 737-200s, including a new twice-daily service to Oslo Torp Airport and a new Teesside-Dublin route.
On the Stockholm route, which it began serving in May, it has achieved a 20% share, and it is now "-in negotiations with more than 30 other airports which don't like being bypassed by other carriers", says O'Leary. "We have unannounced deals with eight airports for the launch of services from London and Dublin," he adds.
Source: Flight International
