Ryanair has signed a landmark multi-billion dollar agreement with engine manufacturer CFM that will reshape how Europe’s largest low-cost carrier maintains its fleet and underpins one of the most ambitious capacity expansions in the continent’s aviation history. Announced on February 10, 2026, the new engine material services deal deepens Ryanair’s three-decade partnership with CFM and paves the way for the airline to bring a significant part of its engine maintenance in house by the end of this decade, while supporting a planned fleet of up to 800 Boeing 737 aircraft across Europe.
A Historic New Chapter in the Ryanair–CFM Partnership
The agreement between Ryanair and CFM is framed as a multi-year, multi-billion dollar engine material services deal centered on CFM’s CFM56-7B and LEAP-1B engines, which power Ryanair’s current and future Boeing 737 fleet. Rather than a traditional “power by the hour” maintenance contract, this new framework focuses on the direct supply of spare parts, technical support and long-term material provisioning that will enable Ryanair to assume far greater control over the maintenance of nearly 2,000 engines.
According to the announcement, Ryanair has committed to purchasing all of its engine spare parts directly from CFM under this agreement. Over its life, the deal is expected to involve spare parts purchases of more than one billion dollars per year, reflecting both the scale of Ryanair’s current operations and the aggressive growth targets it has set for the coming decade. It is a decisive evolution of a relationship that dates back to the late 1990s, when Ryanair first adopted CFM-powered Boeing 737s and began building a single-type fleet strategy that has since become central to its ultra-low-cost model.
For CFM, the contract reinforces its position at the heart of European low-cost aviation. The manufacturer, a joint venture between France’s Safran Aircraft Engines and US-based GE Aerospace, solidifies its role as Ryanair’s exclusive engine partner, supplying both legacy CFM56 engines for Next Generation 737-800 jets and the newer, fuel-efficient LEAP-1B engines for Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. In an era of intense competition among engine makers and ongoing supply chain challenges, securing a multi-year commitment from Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers is both a commercial and reputational win.
From Power by the Hour to In-House Expertise
This new engine material services agreement marks a strategic departure from the model that has governed Ryanair’s engine maintenance for the past 30 years. Historically, CFM has maintained all of Ryanair’s CFM56 engines under a long-term “power by the hour” contract, under which the manufacturer and its partners carried out most heavy maintenance and overhauls in their own network of facilities, charging the airline based on engine utilization.
From 2029 onwards, however, Ryanair intends to bring much of that work in house. The airline plans to open two dedicated engine maintenance, repair and overhaul shops in Europe, which will assume responsibility for the bulk of maintenance on both CFM56-7B and LEAP-1B engines in its fleet. CFM will continue to supply parts, technical data and guidance, but Ryanair’s own engineers and technicians will increasingly be the ones turning the spanners.
To make this transition possible, the new agreement involves “substantial” orders for initial spare parts provisioning from CFM. These initial stocks will equip the two new maintenance centers and give Ryanair the material depth it needs to perform shop visits and overhauls without relying on external partners to the same degree as in the past. It is a move that aligns with broader trends in the airline industry, where large carriers seek to reduce dependency on third-party maintenance providers, gain cost certainty and build in-house technical expertise as a strategic asset.
Building a Network of Ryanair Engine MRO Shops Across Europe
The planned opening of two Ryanair-operated engine MRO shops in Europe is one of the most significant industrial implications of the deal. Although specific locations have not yet been formally confirmed, the airline has indicated that these facilities will come online toward the end of the decade, with 2029 marked as the pivotal year for transitioning engine maintenance responsibilities from CFM’s network into Ryanair’s own hands.
Each facility is expected to handle heavy maintenance and overhaul for a large number of Boeing 737 engines, supporting a fleet that could reach 800 aircraft and more than 2,000 engines in the coming years. The scale of that task is substantial. Ryanair operates some of the highest-utilization aircraft in Europe, turning jets around quickly between sectors and flying them intensively throughout the year. Engine reliability and availability are therefore crucial to maintaining schedule integrity and minimizing costly disruptions.
The new in‑house shops will complement the airline’s growing network of maintenance bases across the continent. In recent years, Ryanair has announced major investments in facilities such as its multi-bay maintenance hangar at Dublin Airport, dedicated to heavy and line maintenance of its Boeing 737 fleet. The upcoming engine centers will extend that capability from the airframe to the heart of the aircraft, creating a vertically integrated maintenance ecosystem that stretches from line checks to full engine overhauls.
Supporting an Unprecedented Fleet Expansion Across Europe
Ryanair’s tie-up with CFM is not occurring in isolation. It is a foundational pillar of the airline’s long-term growth plan, which envisages its fleet growing to around 800 Boeing 737 family aircraft by the mid-2030s and annual passenger numbers eventually reaching 300 million throughout Europe and North Africa. Those targets represent a sharp increase from the roughly 600 aircraft and 225 million passengers that Ryanair has been working toward in the first half of this decade.
Central to this expansion is the progressive delivery of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, including the high-density 737-8200 “Gamechanger” variant and the larger 737 MAX 10. These aircraft are powered exclusively by CFM LEAP-1B engines, which deliver up to 20 percent reductions in fuel burn and carbon emissions per seat compared with previous-generation 737s, while also offering significant noise reductions. Ryanair has already ordered scores of additional LEAP-1B engines in recent years, including a batch of 30 spare engines announced in 2025, to bolster resilience as it weathers delivery delays and seeks to keep its operation robust during peak travel seasons.
The new material services agreement with CFM locks in a predictable supply chain for both CFM56-7B and LEAP-1B engines over the long term. As the fleet grows and the mix gradually shifts toward the more efficient MAX variants, Ryanair will be able to count on a steady flow of replacement parts, life-limited components and upgraded modules that enable engines to run more efficiently for longer periods between major overhauls. For an airline that thrives on minimizing unit costs and maximizing aircraft utilization, this level of support is essential.
Operational Resilience and Cost Leadership
At the operational level, the deal is designed to enhance Ryanair’s resilience and protect its cost leadership position in the European market. By committing to buy all engine spare parts directly from CFM over a multi-year horizon, Ryanair secures pricing visibility and shields itself from some of the volatility that has characterized the aviation supply chain since the pandemic. Engine parts and overhaul capacity have become pinch points across the industry, constraining growth for many airlines as they struggle to keep aircraft flying amid backlogs at third-party maintenance providers.
Ryanair’s strategy aims to avoid those bottlenecks. The airline already maintains a substantial pool of spare engines, which it has steadily expanded through additional LEAP-1B purchases. The new agreement implies that this pool will continue to grow, giving operations planners a larger cushion when engines need to be removed for unscheduled work or heavy checks. That, in turn, reduces the risk of last-minute cancellations and improves on-time performance, a key selling point in competitive short-haul markets.
Economically, leveraging CFM’s scale on the manufacturing side while building Ryanair’s own in-house maintenance capability is expected to generate long-term savings. Access to original equipment manufacturer parts and technical data means Ryanair can perform overhauls to OEM standards while avoiding some of the margin layers embedded in third-party maintenance contracts. Over time, the airline anticipates that this hybrid model will help keep its unit costs well below those of legacy competitors and even many rival low-cost carriers, strengthening its position on price-sensitive routes.
Implications for Travelers and European Connectivity
For passengers across Europe, the strategic partnership between Ryanair and CFM will play out not in corporate boardrooms but at the airport gate. The airline’s planned fleet expansion, underpinned by this material services deal, supports a wave of new routes, higher frequencies on existing city pairs and increased capacity into secondary and regional airports that rely heavily on low-cost carriers to maintain international links.
As the fleet of 737-8200 and future 737 MAX 10 aircraft grows, travelers can expect more seats at lower unit operating costs, which historically has translated into competitive fares on many of Ryanair’s core markets. The more fuel-efficient LEAP-1B engines will also contribute to quieter operations and lower emissions per passenger, a factor that is increasingly important for both regulators and environmentally conscious travelers. While carbon output from aviation remains a critical policy issue, shifting to newer, more efficient aircraft is one of the few near-term levers airlines can realistically pull.
Reliability is another key benefit. With a reinforced spare engine pool, direct access to OEM parts and, in time, its own engine overhaul shops, Ryanair is positioning itself to reduce the kind of operational disruptions that have plagued parts of the industry in recent years. For passengers planning tight connections, weekend city breaks or budget-friendly family holidays, fewer cancellations and delays are a tangible gain that flows directly from this behind-the-scenes industrial strategy.
Strengthening Europe’s Aviation Industrial Base
Beyond the airline’s own network and fare structure, the Ryanair–CFM agreement carries broader implications for Europe’s aviation industrial base. CFM itself is a transatlantic joint venture, marrying Safran’s French engine expertise with GE Aerospace’s US technology and manufacturing capabilities. By anchoring such a large portion of its future fleet to CFM engines, Ryanair reinforces the role of this Franco‑American partnership in powering Europe’s short-haul air travel ecosystem.
The decision to open two dedicated Ryanair engine MRO shops in Europe will also generate highly skilled technical jobs and stimulate investment in training and infrastructure. Engine overhaul is among the most complex, regulated and technology-intensive segments of the aviation value chain, requiring precision tooling, advanced testing equipment and rigorous quality control systems. Developing these capabilities within Ryanair’s own organization and on European soil supports the region’s wider aerospace cluster and may, in time, open the door to third-party maintenance work for other operators.
Moreover, by bringing a major low-cost carrier deeper into the heart of engine maintenance activities, the deal can foster closer collaboration between airline operations teams and engineering specialists. Lessons from line operations, route structures and real-world engine performance can more quickly inform maintenance practices, software updates and component upgrades. This feedback loop has the potential to make engines not just cheaper to maintain, but also more efficient and reliable in service.
What This Means for the Future of Low-Cost Flying
The Ryanair–CFM agreement underscores how the economics of low-cost flying are shifting from simple aircraft acquisition deals to more sophisticated, long-horizon partnerships that encompass maintenance, materials and technical data. As fleets grow larger and engines more advanced, securing the right balance between OEM support and in-house expertise becomes a strategic differentiator, not merely a back-office concern.
For Ryanair, the combination of a single-type Boeing 737 fleet, exclusive reliance on CFM engines and growing internal maintenance capacity creates a tightly integrated operating model that is difficult for competitors to replicate quickly. It allows the airline to plan capacity growth, network expansion and fleet renewal on timelines measured in decades, confident that the core propulsion technology and support framework are locked in. That stability can, in turn, support more ambitious growth in new markets, from underserved regional airports to emerging leisure destinations at the fringes of Europe.
For travelers, the newly inked multi-billion dollar engine material services agreement is unlikely to be a topic of conversation at the boarding gate. Yet over the next decade it will quietly shape the flights they take, the fares they pay and the destinations they are able to reach on a low-cost ticket. In an industry where reliability, scale and cost control are everything, Ryanair’s reinforced partnership with CFM looks set to become one of the key engines driving the next phase of affordable air travel across Europe.