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Will Ryanair become Europe’s biggest airline?

March 02, 2005 |

The Guardian reports that Ryanair has declared its ambition to become Europe's biggest airline within five years, by ordering 70 new Boeing jets with a list price of $4.6bn.

The Guardian reports that Ryanair has declared its ambition to become Europe’s biggest airline within five years, by ordering 70 new Boeing jets with a list price of $4.6bn (£2.4bn).

The budget airline has secured the Boeing 737-800s at a low price, and even has an option to double its order to 140 aircraft.

Ryanair believes that the new airliners will increase the airline’s passenger numbers from an expected 34 million this year to 70 million in 2011, taking it ahead of both British Airways and Air France.

It expects that this new development will also create 2,500 new jobs.

The Guardian cites Howard Millar, Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, as saying that the airline still sees enormous potential for growth in budget flights across the European mainland, including the Eastern markets.

“Four out of 10 flights in the UK are on low-fares airlines. But there are whole swaths of Europe which don’t have any low-fares airlines at all.”

He apparently added that the prospect of overtaking traditional national flag carriers is of little importance, and that size is of far less consequence than profitability.

This development appears to be a boost to Boeing, which was recently overtaken by Airbus as the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer.

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