Earlier today, Ryanair released its financial results for the third quarter of the 2026/26 tax year. These concern the period from October to December of 2025, with the Irish budget carrier having performed well on some fronts and less favorably on others. The low-cost airline also took the opportunity to reflect on what is presently the most useful weapon in its arsenal: the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, which it has nicknamed the ‘Gamechanger.’

These new narrowbody twinjets are more efficient than the Boeing 737-800 aircraft that preceded them at Ryanair, with their high-density seating layout also meaning that they can fit more passengers on board despite being more or less the same size. With that being said, while these jets represent the future for Ryanair, ongoing certification delays to the Boeing 737 MAX 10, for which Ryanair has many orders, may cause issues.

The Fleet Is Nearly Complete

According to a corresponding statement released earlier today by Ryanair that concerned its Q3 financial results, the carrier ended 2025 with a grand total of 206 Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft at its disposal. This leaves just four units on order to be delivered by late February, with ch-aviation also noting that these aircraft are just three years old on average compared to a fleet-wide mean of 15.5 years. They also have 197 seats on board.

This, according to aeroLOPA, is an extra eight compared to the 189 guests that its older Boeing 737-800 jets can handle, with the increased total being enabled, as seen above, thanks to an additional set of exits towards the rear of the fuselage. Going forward, Ryanair has 150 Boeing 737 MAX 10s on order, but this variant has been repeatedly subjected to delivery delays due to certification issues. On this, Group CEO Michael O’Leary said:

« With almost all of our ‘Gamechangers’ delivered, other income in Q3 dipped due to the absence of delivery delay compensation in the quarter, which was included in the previous year’s Q3 compensation. »

Fare Rises Are Outpacing Inflation

The third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year was a strong one for Ryanair as far as its levels of passenger traffic were concerned, with the Irish budget carrier handling 47.5 million guests in Q3. This represented a 6% rise compared to the figure of 44.9 million in the same period a year before, with revenue also rising by a factor of 9% from €2.96 billion ($3.52 billion) to €3.21 billion ($3.81 billion). Ancillary revenues were also up by 1%.

Meanwhile, the average fare at the Dublin-based low-cost airline rose from €43 ($51.07) to €44 ($52.26). This 4% increase is just above current rates of inflation in the Republic of Ireland, which, according to the country’s Central Statistics Office, peaked at 3.2% in November of 2025. However, a key reason for Ryanair needing its fare rises to outpace inflation rates is the fact that it has had to put money aside for exceptional charges elsewhere.

Specifically, the airline notes that its post-exceptions post-tax profit being just €30 million (down 80% year-in-year) compared to a pre-exceptions post-tax profit of €115 million (down 22% year-on-year) is due to €85 million being set aside as 33% of an Italian AGCM fine. Ryanair hopes to be able to overturn this, but, until then, the superior operating economics of the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 will make a key difference in the battle against inflation.

Is WiFi Coming To Ryanair’s Boeing 737 MAX Fleet?

Ryanair has also been in the news recently amid a high-profile online shouting match between Group CEO Michael O’Leary and outspoken tech guru Elon Musk. The carrier initially confirmed that it was not interested in installing Musk’s Starlink WiFi on its jets on January 14 due to a reported 2% fuel penalty related to increased weight and drag, with Musk subsequently calling O’Leary « misinformed. »

The Ryanair Group CEO fired back at Musk, calling him « very wealthy, but still an idiot, » prompting the SpaceX founder to threaten to buy the airline and sack O’Leary. However, both men are known for making provocative statements in order to grow discourse, and, now, it seems that all hope is not lost, with The Guardian reporting today that Ryanair is, in fact, still open to Starlink. Watch this space…