European LCC Ryanair and CFM International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering a multi-year, multi-million dollar engine materials services agreement that will support Ryanair’s long-term engine maintenance strategy and its planned entry into in-house engine MRO.
Under the agreement, CFM will support Ryanair’s engine maintenance program as the airline prepares to open two dedicated engine MRO workshops from 2029, designed to support a fleet of close to 2,000 Boeing 737 engines.
The move marks a significant change to Ryanair’s maintenance model as it scales operations in line with its fleet growth ambitions.
The multi-year contract commits Ryanair to purchase all engine spare parts directly from CFM, a 50/50 joint venture between Safran aircraft engines and GE Aerospace.
The deal is structured to support Ryanair’s expansion to 800 Boeing 737 family aircraft, powered by engines over 2,000 CFM.
Contract coverage includes existing and future CFM56-7B and LEAP-1B engines installed on Ryanair’s Boeing 737 NG and MAX fleets. As part of its long-term strategy, Ryanair expects to take direct responsibility for CFM engine maintenance once its two European engine MRO facilities come online towards the end of the decade.
Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “For the past 30 years, CFM has been maintaining all of Ryanair’s CFM56 engines under a long-term ‘power-per-hour’ contract. However, from 2029, Ryanair hopes to take its engines ‘in-house’ for maintenance, and we are delighted to do so with the help and support of our CFM partners.
“Ryanair will place significant initial spare parts supply orders to CFM to support the opening of each of these two Ryanair engine maintenance facilities. When Ryanair takes all of its engine maintenance in-house, we expect this contract to be worth over $1 billion annually to CFM in spare engine and spare parts supplies.”
O’Leary added: “This new parts agreement extends our 30-year partnership with CFMand we look forward to working closely with CFM, Safran and GE to support what will be one of the largest commercial aircraft fleets in the world, and also one of the largest Boeing 737 engine packages in the world.”
Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, said: “This important new milestone further reinforces the strategic relationship we have built with Ryanair for the past three decades, and we are proud to support its continued growth through this comprehensive MRO service offering.
“With the continued success of the CFM56 and the rapid growth of the LEAP fleet, we are investing to build a global MRO network within an open and competitive ecosystem to help our airline customers optimize fleet efficiency and control operating costs.”
READ MORE NEWS: Ryanair to cut 20 routes in Belgium
