AIRBUS HAS snubbed an effort by Ryanair to draw it into a bidding contest against Boeing for the carrier’s next multibillion dollar order for several hundred short-haul jets.

The European aircraft maker is unwilling to contemplate the scale of discounts being sought by Ryanair, which has established a reputation as one of the most aggressive negotiators of low-cost supply deals in the global aviation industry.

Airbus’s reluctance to enter the preliminary bidding for the Ryanair order is highly unusual, given traditionally fierce competition between the world’s duopoly manufacturers of big commercial jets with over 100 seats.

The two groups vie for annual bragging rights as the leading commercial aircraft maker – a position held by Airbus – and the order volumes from Ryanair represent a big prize, given that the Irish carrier is poised to become Europe’s biggest short-haul airline measured by passenger numbers.

This week Ryanair said it was in early talks with Boeing and Airbus about an order for 300-400 short-haul jets.

Michael Cawley, Ryanair deputy chief executive and chief operating officer, said he expected the group to place the order within 18-24 months to take advantage of the rapidly-weakening commercial aerospace market.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary and key senior colleagues have visited Airbus headquarters in Toulouse to outline their plans, but the European group has told the airline that it is not interested at the prices Ryanair is seeking.

John Leahy, Airbus’s chief commercial officer, said: “We are not in discussions with Ryanair about aircraft. That is on the record. We don’t have plans to enter a sales campaign with Ryanair, which would be very expensive and very time-consuming.”

Ryanair is keen to repeat a coup of six years ago, when it placed its previous biggest order for 100 aircraft and a further 50 options in January 2002, close to the bottom of the last aviation recession. – ( Financial Timesservice)