Ryanair ratifies $4.6 billion order

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, a European low-cost airline, have completed the airline's previously announced order for 70 Boeing 737-800 aeroplanes, worth $4.6 billion at list prices, plus options for up to 70 more. Ryanair shareholders ratified the agreement on May 12.

Boeing says the new 737-800s will be fitted with Blended Winglets, which reduce takeoff noise at airports, reduce fuel burn by up to four percent and increase the distance the 737 can fly.

Ryanair, Boeing's largest 737 customer outside the US, has ordered a total of 225 Boeing 737-800s to date. The airline has received 82 since its first delivery in 1999, and now has 143 on backlog.

The 70 new aeroplanes are scheduled for delivery primarily between 2008 and 2012. Ryanair estimates it will carry in excess of 70 million passengers by the 2011 /2012 business year, more than double current levels.