Ryanair Holdings plc today (Monday, 2nd December 2002) is pleased to announce that they have mandated Royal Bank of Scotland (“RBS”) to underwrite the financing of 8 Boeing 737-800 next generation aircraft, under an Export-Import Bank of the US export credit guarantee programme. The eight aircraft have a total value of $414m and will be delivered between December 2002 and April 2003.

The transaction will be managed by RBS` specialist aviation unit, Lombard Aviation Capital, based in Dublin, in conjunction with RBS Structured Trade Finance. Ryanair has an established relationship with Ulster Bank, RBS` Irish banking subsidiary.

Commenting on the mandating of Royal Bank of Scotland, Ryanair`s Director of Finance, Howard Millar said:

“We are pleased to mandate Royal Bank of Scotland to underwrite the financing of eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft, following a very competitive tendering process. Not only are RBS a provider of specialist aviation financing products but we also have a banking relationship with RBS and its Irish subsidiary Ulster Bank in relation to treasury products. We look forward to Royal Bank of Scotland being a part of Ryanair`s core to long-term banking relationships.”

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