It's bye-bye BA, says Ryanair

BUDGET carrier Ryanair said it would be bigger than British Airways by the end of the decade as it unveiled an order of 100 new Boeing 737-800s with an option to take 50 more.

Boeing said the record 737 order had a value of up to $9bn (£6.3bn) on the basis of $60m list price of the aircraft. In reality, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's wheeler-dealer chief executive, is likely to have won huge discounts. O'Leary said: 'This new partnership with Boeing will provide Ryanair with a continuous supply of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, the most successful jetliner in the world, and will allow Ryanair and Boeing to revolutionise short-haul travel all over Europe in the same way that Southwest and Boeing have in the US.'

He said the aircraft, to be delivered over eight years from next January, will see Ryanair carry 40m passengers by 2010 against 10m now and 31m carried by BA, Europe's largest airline. 'It's bye-bye BA,' trumpeted O'Leary.

While industry rivals will say this may be a deal too far, O'Leary said Ryanair had already secured financing.

Around 85% of the value of the aircraft is guaranteed by the US Government's export import bank, with Ryanair funding 15% out of its cash and liquid resources, currently $700m.

O'Leary rejected claims that his growth projections are fanciful. 'Southwest in the US carries 70m passengers a year. There are far more people in the EU,' he said.