Ryanair Orders 210 Boeing 737 Max Jets Following the FAA’s Approval of the Aircraft

Ireland's Ryanair is the latest carrier to seek out more Boeing 737 Max jets now that the Federal Aviation Administration has ended the 20-month grounding and a return to passenger service is in sight.

The infamous carrier just purchased 75 Boeing 737 Max 8200 aircraft to join its fleet, growing Ryanair's total order to 210 aircraft to be delivered by 2025. The 8200 variant is Boeing's high-density model of the Max, aimed at ultra-low-cost carriers like Ryanair to further maximize the jet's cost-saving economics by filling it with as many passengers as possible. 

Ryanair is known for its tight planes and the Max 8200 will be no different as 197 seats will be jammed into the plane that normally seats less than 180. though CEO Michael O'Leary says it will have "more legroom."

It's essentially the same design as the Max 8 but requires an extra emergency exit door to accommodate the additional passengers.

As an all-Boeing 737 airline, Ryanair was an early supporter of the 737 Max, placing an order for 100 aircraft in December 2014 and upped its commitment over the years. The March 2019 grounding, however, prevented Ryanair from taking delivery of the jets just months before planned with some sitting built and painted at Boeing's Washington facilities but undelivered.

The Max 8200 aircraft has a current list price of $124.8 million with the total order valued at over $22 billion. Ryanair confirmed, however, that Boeing knocked the price down due to the grounding and will provide further compensation for the inconvenience.

"We hope to take delivery of at least 50 of these aircraft in 2021, subject to Boeing recovering its manufacturing output to deliver them," O'Leary said in a statement.