Ryanair has formalized a memorandum of understanding with CFM for an engine material services agreement that will support the airline's maintenance program for more than 2,000 CFM engines from 2029 onward. The MoU outlines a shift in how Ryanair intends to manage engine upkeep, moving away from its existing power-by-the-hour model toward taking maintenance activities in-house.
Under the plan, Ryanair intends to establish two dedicated engine maintenance shops. The company expects the first facility to begin operations in late 2028, with the second facility scheduled to come online sometime between 2030 and 2031. Each proposed shop carries a sizable capital requirement, with expenditures estimated in the range of c400-500 million per site.
The reported MoU also projects a substantial increase in spare parts purchases associated with the in-house program. In the early part of the next decade, peak annual spending on spare parts tied to the CFM engines is expected to exceed $1 billion. That level of procurement accompanies the transition from an outsourced, power-by-the-hour approach to Ryanair-managed maintenance operations.
Importantly, Ryanair's existing mid-term capital expenditure guidance does not account for the investments required to open the two engine shops, nor does it factor in the financial implications of the CFM agreement. That omission means the company will need to incorporate these new capital demands into its planning and disclosures as the program progresses.
The timeline and cost estimates published with the MoU give a clear sequence of near-term and medium-term milestones:
- Operations for the first engine shop targeted for late 2028.
- Second engine shop planned between 2030 and 2031.
- Estimated capital expenditure of c400-500 million per shop.
- Projected peak spare parts purchases exceeding $1 billion annually in the early 2030s.
The agreement represents a substantial operational change for Ryanair and a material procurement commitment tied to its fleet's CFM engines. Details in the announcement limit the disclosure to the schedule, estimated capital costs, and projected spare parts spend; the company's mid-term capex guidance has not been updated to reflect these items.
Summary: Ryanair has signed an MoU with CFM to support in-house maintenance for over 2,000 CFM engines from 2029, plans to open two engine shops with estimated costs of c400-500 million each, and expects peak spare parts purchases to top $1 billion annually in the early part of the next decade. The company's current mid-term capex guidance does not include these initiatives.