Ryanair has signed a design agreement with COMAC to participate in design discussions on the COMAC 919 airliner.  Ryanair has been searching for a way to either A) bully Boeing into offering more 737-800 aircraft for below profitable prices or B) replace their Boeings with a rock bottom priced aircraft.

Is this the path forward?  I don’t really think so.

This is Ryanair trying to shoot another shot across Boeing’s bow.  The COMAC 919 is highly unlikely to be a competitive airliner even at deep discounts.  It would be a far greater threat if Bombardier had a CSeries aircraft planned that fit Ryanair’s needs.  They don’t, Airbus won’t play the threat game and Boeing has no interest in selling 737-800s so cheaply that airlines can sell them at a profit.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax