Ryanair threatens to quit buying Boeing aircraft if 'ill-judged' US tariffs raise prices

RYANAIR HAS SAID it will seek an alternative aircraft supplier to Boeing if the Trump administration’s “ill-judged” tariff regime causes aircraft prices to increase. 

Boeing is a US-based aircraft manufacturer from which Ryanair has regularly purchased planes for 27 years.

However, this long-standing relationship may come to an end on the orders of Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary who has written a letter to a senior US lawmaker, threatening to turn to COMAC, a Chinese aircraft manufacturer, if the airline has to pay more for plane purchases.

Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers, is due to receive a delivery of 25 Boeing planes in August, but O’Leary previously said the the airline did not need them until “kind of March, April 2026″.”

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If tariffs are imposed on those aircraft, there’s every likelihood we may delay the delivery,” he said.

Tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium imported into the US from the EU have placed great strain and higher costs of production on aircraft makers like Boeing, meaning they have inevitably had to raise selling prices for their output.

This comes on top of what is already estimated to be a surge of 40% on the cost of material and equipment in the aircraft industry in America since 2021.

Prior to the recent batch of tariffs implemented by the Trump administration, US aircraft manufacturing enjoyed a duty-free status under the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement which had protected the industry, up until now, by eliminating tariffs on civil aircraft, engines, flight simulators, and related parts and components.

In his letter to Democratic US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, O’Leary said his airline will “reassess” its relationship with Boeing if prices shoot up, according to Reuters.

“If the US government proceeds with its ill-judged plan to impose tariffs, and if these tariffs materially affect the price of Boeing aircraft exports to Europe, then we would certainly reassess both our current Boeing orders, and the possibility of placing those orders elsewhere,” he wrote.

O’Leary’s letter was a response to a previous correspondence from Krishnamoorthi warning O’Leary of purchasing planes from COMAC, which the congressman claims has benefitted from foreign intellectual property theft by the Chinese Government, a claim the country denies.

“Respectfully, U.S. and European airlines should not be even contemplating the future purchase of airplanes from Chinese military companies,” Krishnamoorthi wrote on 30 April.

O’Leary clarified that no negotiations have taken place with COMAC since 2011, but that he would certainly consider entering into them if their prices were determined to be 10-20% less than those of Boeing’s main rival, Airbus.