Irish aircraft leasing companies represent Boeing’s largest customer group with a current order book valued at about $115 billion (€100.2 billion), according to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, who visited the aircraft manufacturer’s facility in Seattle as part of a multi-city trip to promote Ireland ahead of St Patrick’s Day.
Irish airline Ryanair is also a major customer of Boeing. It currently has 647 Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet with a further 300 new fuel-efficient Boeing 737- Max 10 aircraft to be delivered by 2034.
The Minister kicked off his week-long trip to the west coast of the US in Seattle, where he is accompanied by officials from the Consulate General of Ireland in San Francisco, Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland.
Heydon used the trip to Seattle to meet with a distributor of Irish lamb and beef in the US.
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The US was the third largest destination for Irish agri-food exports in 2025, according to the CSO, with exports amounting to €1.9 billion. These exports were led by dairy (€859.7 million) and beverages (€834.7 million).
In the second leg of his trip, he met on Friday in San Francisco with Hotaling a key distributor of Irish spirits to the region, supplying 57,000 outlets.
Irish brands being promoted at the Bord Bia Spirit of Ireland event include Mad March Hare, Dingle Gin, Natterjack Irish Whiskey, Glendalough Distillery, and West Cork Distillery.
Heydon will also engage with a number of Irish dairy companies operating in the region, including Emerald Ice Cream, which is now sold in about 1,000 outlets across the US, and Ornua owner of Kerrygold butter which employs more than 800 people in the US.
He will travel to Sacramento on Monday to meet with the California State Department of Agriculture, followed by a visit to UC Davis to formally announce an expansion of the research partnership with University College Dublin.
“I look forward to having the opportunity during this visit to promote Ireland’s reputation both as an exporter of sustainably produced, world class agri-food products and being at the cutting edge of research and innovation,” Heydon said.
