Irish budget carrier Ryanair has agreed to acquire 175 new Boeing 737-800s, an agreement it values at nearly $15.6 billion at list prices.

The carrier says the deal, will take its fleet to more than 400 aircraft by the “end of the delivery stream” in 2018.

Once approved by Ryanair shareholders the purchase will, the airline claims, be the “largest ever” aircraft order by a European carrier.

The 737-800s are exclusively powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.

Some 75 of the new aircraft will replace part of Ryanair’s current fleet of 305 737s. “But the remainder will drive new growth of Ryanair’s fleet of young, highly efficient aircraft,” the carrier says.

Ryanair says it is continuing to evaluate the re-engined 737 Max, which is due to enter service in 2017.

Bombardier in Belfast is to build parts for up to 142 business jets.

Vistajet, a private charter firm, has signed a deal worth more than £4.8bn (€6bn).

This is the largest business aircraft sale in Bombardier’s history and will help secure the jobs of around 5,500 people in Belfast.

A spokeswoman for the company said:

We in Belfast play a major role in the business jet sector – an important market which Bombardier leads.

This order – the largest ever business aircraft sale in Bombardier’s history – will help to sustain jobs and secure our long-term future, in addition to benefiting our local supply chain.

Bombardier in Belfast is responsible for the design and manufacture of a range of parts for the Global aircraft family, including the forward fuselages, engine nacelles, horizontal stabilisers and other components.

Work will start shortly and the first order involves 25 Global 5000, 25 Global 6000 and six Global 8000 jets, Bombardier said.

The spokeswoman added:

The announcement of this order for up to 142 of Bombardier’s Global business jets is a tremendous endorsement of Bombardier, our employees and the Global aircraft family, and is very much welcome.

Steve Ridolfi, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft, said they were thrilled Vistajet had picked them.

We welcome Vistajet’s ongoing commitment to Global coverage within existing and developing new markets, he said.

Our Global aircraft are perfect for Vistajet’s business strategy to deliver the ultimate business jet family to all corners of the world.

Bombardier, a Canadian company, came to Northern Ireland in 1989 when it bought Short Brothers plc from the UK government.

International Airlines Group will bring in additional Boeing 777s for British Airways but slash Iberia’sAirbus A340s and A320s under its fleet plan to 2015.

Deliveries of some of BA’s Boeing 787s will also be deferred beyond 2015 under the plan, disclosed as IAG detailed a far-reaching restructuring of Iberia’s operations.

Iberia would have had 40 A330/340s by 2015 under IAG’s original fleet schedule, with eight A330sdue to be delivered over the interim period.

But the Iberia long-haul fleet will instead drop to 29 in 2015 as A340s are withdrawn, according to a detailed schedule breakdown given by IAG chief financial officer Enrique Dupuy.

Scheduled delivery of five remaining 777s on order would have taken BA’s 777 fleet from 49 to 54 during 2011-15, but the amended plan shows an increase of nine 777s which will take the carrier’s total from 52 this year to 58 in 2015.

Over the same time period BA will take only 12, rather than 16, of its 24 Boeing 787s, the remainder being scheduled for post-2015 delivery.

BA’s A380 delivery schedule remains unchanged.

The net effect will be to slow the expansion of IAG’s long-haul fleet, which will increase from 153 to 160 aircraft by 2015, rather than the 167 previously projected.

Iberia’s overall A320 fleet, which includes 14 operated by low-cost arm Iberia Express, will be cut from 77 this year to 52 in 2015.

BA, however, has gained 25 A320s this year from the integration of BMI, and will take delivery of another 10 by 2015, taking its A320 fleet from 110 to 120 during 2012-15.

IAG has put forward an offer to acquire the outstanding shareholding in low-cost operator Vueling, which operates 57 A320s.

These changes, including a juggling of other short-haul types, will cut IAG’s short-haul fleet from 227 aircraft to 198 by 2015. Dupuy’s schedule also indicates a reduction in IAG’s post-2015 A320 orders from 12 to eight.

Airlines around the world will collect an estimated £22 billion (€47.4 billion) in extra fees and charges this year, according to new research.

The figure represents an increase of 11 per cent on last year’s total, and is nearly 40 per cent more than carriers received in 2010.

With total airline income remaining stagnant during that time, it also illustrates just how dependent many airlines have become on “ancillary” revenue, from baggage charges and administration fees to car hire sales and in-flight food and drink, to maintain their profits.

The study, by Amadeus, a travel technology provider, and IdeaWorksCompany, an aviation consultancy, divided airlines into different categories, based on what percentage of their revenue is made from non-ticket sources.

Traditional airlines – such as British Airways, Air Canada, Air New Zealand and Etihad – were placed at one end of the spectrum, and “Ancillary Revenue Champs” – the report highlights AirAsia, easyJet, Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines – at the other. While the latter group, perhaps unsurprisingly, increased its ancillary revenue by 30.5 per cent during the last year, the amount earned by traditional airlines also increased significantly, by 17 per cent.

The figure of £22 billion (€47.4 billion) is likely to increase again next year. Charges for carrying luggage in the hold continue to rise – this year Ryanair raising its fee to £25 (€31.13) per-flight for a single bag during peak season – more no-frills airlines are offering allocated seating – easyJet did so in September, with the optional service priced from £3 (€3.70) to £12 (€14.94) – and last month Wizz Air became the first European airline to charge passengers to carry hand luggage.

Passengers taking bags larger than 42cm x 32 cm x 25 cm on board the Hungarian no-frills carrier must pay £9 each way, although that fee pales in comparison to the charge imposed by US-based Spirit Airlines for carry-on luggage. Its fee ranges from £22 (€27.40) to £62 (€77.19), depending on whether passengers choose to pay during booking, or at the airport.

Airlines claim such charges allow them to keep headline fares low, but passengers often complain that they reduce transparency and make it more difficult to compare fares – a survey of 11,500 Britons by TripAdvisor this week suggested that 73 per cent would boycott airlines that impose a hand luggage fee.

The report by Amadeus concludes:

Despite the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revising its projection of airline profitability for 2012, the operating environment remains challenging. The current situation has made ancillary revenue more attractive, and needed, for airlines all over the world.

THE European Union has put on hold its rule that all airlines must pay for their emissions on flights to and from Europe, but will resume enforcement if a UN airline body fails to deliver a global deal.

The European Union has come under intense international pressure to tear up its law making all airlines using EU airports buy carbon allowances on its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

“To create a positive atmosphere, we have agreed to stop the clock,” Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said today.

“If this exercise ends in nothing, we are back to exactly where we were with the EU ETS automatically,” she said, adding that this would give the UN airlines body, the ICAO, until next November to strike a new deal.

The European Commission, the EU executive, has repeatedly said it only put its law in place after more than a decade of inaction at the ICAO.

Hedegaard said EU member states would have to endorse the Commission’s decision for it to take effect.

Iberia will cut 4,500 staff, reduce its fleet by 25 aircraft – five long-haul and 20 short-haul – and downsize its network by 15%, under a large-scale restructuring plan announced today by parent company International Airlines Group.

The Spanish carrier, which made a nine-month operating loss of €262 million ($334 million), is in a “fight for survival“, says IAG chief executive Willie Walsh.

Iberia chief executive Rafael Sánchez-Lozano says the carrier is “unprofitable in all its markets“.

Under the transformation plan, IAG hopes to stem cash losses at its Spanish unit by mid-2013.

Other measures include the cessation of “non-profitable” third-party maintenance and the launch of new commercial initiatives.

As well as halting Iberia’s financial decline, we will establish a viable business that can grow profitably in the long term, says IAG.

It has set a deadline of 31 January 2013 to hammer out an agreement with its unions on the restructure.

If agreement is not reached, deeper cuts and a more radical reduction in the size, and scale of Iberia’s operations will take place to secure the natural long-haul traffic flows at Madrid and safeguard the company’s future, it says.

The owner of British Airways and Iberia, IAG, has made a takeover offer for Spanish budget airline Vueling.

IAG has offered €113m euros ($144m; £90m) for the 54% stake in Vueling that it does not already own.

IAG’s Iberia already holds a 46% stake in Vueling, and if the bid is accepted it expects the deal to be completed in the second quarter of 2013.

IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said the acquisition would be “good for Spain” and “create new Spanish jobs“.

IAG maintains the takeover – which values Vueling at about 209m euros – will not need regulatory approval by the European Commission.

For the nine months to 30 September, Vueling made pre-tax profits of 59m euros and had total assets of 805m euros, IAG said.

British pilots have today unanimously agreed to say ‘enough is enough‘ to the ever-growing use of ‘contract pilots’ in UK airlines.

At its Annual Delegates Conference, the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) heard from two young pilots, recently trained, who spoke of the struggle they have had to fulfil their dream of being an airline pilot.

BALPA General Secretary, Jim McAuslan, said:

‘I have rarely seen conference so united, and so determined to tackle an issue.

‘Unlike in previous decades it is now normal for trainee pilots to have to pay for all their training themselves, with no guarantee job at the end of it, and then be forced onto different contracts from permanent  pilots with substandard terms and conditions.  And in certain circumstances pilots are forced to set up their own company so the airline can treat them as contractors, rather than employees, which they effectively are.

‘The result is pilots not just on lower terms and conditions than permanent employees, but their effectively being exploited because of their love for the job.  Pilots should not have to sleep in airport car parks because they can’t afford a hotel room; that’s not good for flight safety. And it is simply wrong for recently-qualified pilots to have to service debts so huge that they have to pay £1,400 a month of their £1,600 salary in repayments.

‘BALPA is not going to allow this situation to continue.  This unfairness needs to be tackled across the industry.  That’s why today, permanent pilots in easyJet expressed their support to their ‘FlexiCrew’ colleagues who are on these other contracts.  The message is simple: easyJet plane – easyJet pilot.

‘But this is not just about easyJet.  We will be working airline by airline to ensure this is tackled.

‘We will be putting pressure on the regulator to ensure that their own rules around contract pilots are followed, which we do not think they currently are, and where we think they are insufficient, urging change.

‘We will be considering all legal avenues to stop this practice.

‘We will be looking at the tax implications of airlines’ use of contract pilots, and ensuring our members have all the information they need to ensure they are protected.  We have already urged the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee to look into the tax issues around contract pilots.

‘And conference did not rule out the use of industrial action to deal with this insidious threat to pilots’ futures.’

The TUC’s General Secretary-designate, Frances O’Grady, spoke at BALPA’s conference yesterday and expressed her support for BALPA’s many campaigns, including our desire to tackle the growing use of casual labour in aviation.