Irish Airline Ryanair Orders 175 Boeing 737-800s, Listed At $15.6 Billion

Irish discount airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (Nasdaq:RYAAY) announced on Tuesday that it ordered 175 Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) Next Generation 737-800 jets, nearly doubling the size of its fleet and marking Boeing's largest order in 2013.

Once deliveries of the order, Boeing's largest ever from a European customer, are completed in 2018, Ryanair's aircraft will number 400, allowing it to increase its service by about 5 percent per annum over the next several years, the airline said. Passenger traffic is expected to exceed 100 million by March 2019.

The aircraft carries a list price of $89.1 million, but big discounts are available for customers who place large orders. Industry analysts estimate that Ryanair is paying in the neighborhood of $40 million per jet, according to Reuters.

About 75 of the new planes will replace some of Ryanair's existing fleet of 305 Boeing 737s, the airline said.

The order will create more than 3,000 jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers, said Ryanair, which has Europe's largest fleet of Boeing jets.

Ryanair's CEO, Ray Conner, called the aircraft the "most efficient, most reliable large single-aisle airplane flying today."