Ryanair likely to turn to capital markets to finance purchase of 175 new Boeing craft

Ryanair is considering seeking part of the cash needed to pay for the 175 new craft it intends buying from Boeing from the capital markets.

The airline’s shareholders approved the order, said to have a value of around €12 billion, last year and it is due to take delivery of the first of the craft in September.

In the past the airline has used cash raised through bonds backed by the US Government-controlled Export-Import Bank,which are effectively a form of export credit insurance.

This route is still open to the airline, but changes introduced last year mean that its scope for using it is now more limited.

As a result, the airline is mulling using these instruments and its own cash, combined with a variety of other means.

Those could include bonds, bank debt and euro- denominated enhanced equipment trust certificates, a listed cash-raising mechanism used by airlines in the US.

In common with many other carriers, Ryanair leases a certain number of craft, but uses this method of finance less often than its rivals.