Ryanair to Build In-House Engine Shops, Invest $600M

Ryanair Holdings CEO Michael O’Leary announced plans to invest up to $600 million in bringing engine maintenance in-house over the next five to ten years. With 200 engines in maintenance at any time and fleet expansion underway, O’Leary sees this as a cost-effective move.

The low-cost carrier aims to build two engine repair shops, one in Western Europe and another in Eastern Europe, with announcements expected within a year. The facilities could take three to four years to open.

“We already handle most of our airframe maintenance, and with supply chain issues and only two major providers—Pratt & Whitney and General Electric—it’s time to repair our own engines,” O’Leary told Aviation Week.

Ryanair’s fleet includes 116 Boeing 737-8-200s with CFM LEAP engines and 205 Boeing 737-800s powered by CFM56 engines. Subsidiary Malta Air operates 133 B737-800s, 43 B737-8-200s, and a small fleet of Learjets. Meanwhile, Buzz (Poland) and Lauda Europe also run Boeing and Airbus aircraft with CFM and V2500 engines.

Ryanair is also expanding MRO capacity, recently completing a hangar in Sevilla and launching projects at Dublin, Kaunas, Kraków, and Wroclaw. The airline also runs heavy maintenance at Glasgow Prestwick, Frankfurt Hahn, and Shannon, with major line maintenance hubs in Dublin, London Stansted, Madrid, Milan Bergamo, and Vienna.

This investment supports Ryanair’s long-term goal of maintaining an 800-aircraft fleet by 2034.

Related News: https://airguide.info/category/air-travel-business/airline-finance/

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com