Ryanair welcomes its 200th Boeing 737 MAX after a flurry of deliveries

Ryanair has welcomed its 200th Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft at Dublin Airport (DUB) on October 4, 2025, with the aircraft departing for its non-stop trek to the Irish capital from King County International Airport (BFI) on October 3, 2025.

The delivery of the aircraft, registered as EI-ILK, marked a special milestone for Boeing and Ryanair, which now has 200 737 MAX 8-200s across four different air operator’s certificates (AOC): Buzz, Malta Air, Ryanair, and Ryanair UK. Its fifth subsidiary, Malta-registered Lauda Europe, only operates Airbus A320ceo aircraft.

Ryanair crossed the 200 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft mark after welcoming 11 of the jets in a span of around two weeks, with Boeing delivering ten 737 MAX 8-200s between September 22 and September 30, 2025. The 200th jet arrived at DUB at 12:51 local time (UTC +1) on October 4, 2025, according to Flightradar24 records.

The ‘200th jet’ entered service on October 5, 2025, and has completed five commercial flights at the time of publishing.

The airline, which has nicknamed its 737 MAX 8-200s the ‘Gamechanger,’ has long been, at times, a vocal critic and, at times, praised Boeing and its delivery schedules. When it announced its Q3 FY25 financial results on January 27, 2025, it said that the planemaker’s delivery delays had forced it to revise its FY26 traffic goal to 206 million passengers, representing growth of 3% year-on-year (YoY).

“We’re hopeful that the remaining 29 Gamechangers in our 210 orderbook will deliver before March 2026, enabling us to recover this delayed traffic growth in [summer 2026] instead of [summer 2025].”

During its latest H1 FY26 results presentation on July 21, 2025, Michael O’Leary, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ryanair, detailed that since it had 181 737 MAX 8-200s in its fleet, it was 29 aircraft “short.”

The ever-outspoken Irish executive continued that Boeing should hand over the remaining 29 aircraft during this upcoming winter season, “well in advance of summer 2026.”

“I think the fact that Boeing have, in recent months, been hitting their rate 38 [per month – ed. note] will enable them to go to the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration – ed. note] and get clearance to rate 42, [which] leaves us much more confident that we will complete, this winter, the entire 210 Gamechanger order.”

With only ten aircraft left, Ryanair’s next big order that Boeing will have to clear is for the 737 MAX 10. In May 2023, the Irish low-cost carrier purchased 300 737 MAX 10s, split between 150 firm and 150 optional orders, with a delivery timeline of between 2027 and 2033.

The airline’s fleet site now reads that it will welcome a further 300 737 MAX 10s by 2034, representing a shift of at least a year to complete the order.

Compared to the 737 MAX 8-200, which seats up to 210 passengers, the 737 MAX 10 can welcome up to 230 travelers in an all-economy class configuration, sacrificing range for additional capacity.

Ryanair configures its 737 MAX 8-200s with 197 seats, while its 737 MAX 10s should come with 228 seats, or two fewer than its exit limit, according to its fleet site.

During the same H1 FY26 results presentation, O’Leary said that Boeing was still estimating that the 737 MAX 10 would be certified in late 2025, “with a slight risk that it might slip into early 2026.” The Irish executive added that Ryanair has received confirmation that the manufacturer is working on the basis that it will “be delivering our first 737 MAX 10s, as per contract, in Spring 2027.”

However, when Boeing published its Q2 2025 results on July 29, 2025, the company’s US quarterly filing confirmed that both the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10’s certification should occur in 2026 as the manufacturer has continued working “through the engineering solution for the engine anti-ice system [EAI],” which will have to be retrofitted on the 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 following the certification of the system.

Kelly Ortberg, the President and CEO of Boeing, provided only few details about the type’s certification progress during his latest public appearance at the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference on September 11, 2025.

“The good news is we have made really good progress on the design of the engine anti-ice since that time. I feel pretty good that we are nailing that design.”

Ortberg detailed that right now, Boeing is in the process of working with the FAA on the certification of that design and what tests need to be done. The executive sprinkled in that the planemaker has “made some good progress on the design part,” but admitted that it has been frustrating that it has taken Boeing “this long” to design and certify the EAI.

Ryanair welcomed its first 737 MAX 8-200, registered as EI-HEN, on June 15, 2021. Split between the four AOCs, Buzz has 21 737 MAX 8-200, Malta Air has 43 737 MAX 8-200, Ryanair has 136 737 MAX 8-200, and Ryanair UK has no 737 MAX 8-200s.

The latter airline should get its first aircraft of the type soon. Aviation Flights Group, which tracks aircraft during their production, indicated that the UK-based carrier’s 737 MAX 8-200, to be registered as G-RYMA, had its first flight on September 29, 2025.

Ryanair’s 200th 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft, EI-ILK, for example, had its first flight on September 8, 2025, and departed for its delivery flight on October 3, 2025, according to Aviation Flights Group data.

In total, Ryanair Group has 640 aircraft: 26 A320ceo, 611 Boeing 737, which includes its 737 Next Generation (NG) jets, and three Bombardier Challenger 3500s, per planespotters.net.