Ryanair has fired another shot in Europe’s fiercely competitive aviation market, signing a landmark multi year agreement with CFM that will reshape how the continent’s largest low cost carrier maintains and powers its fleet. The fresh deal deepens a relationship that already spans nearly three decades, but this time the focus is not on new aircraft orders. Instead, Ryanair is moving decisively into the technical heart of its operation, securing long term engine material support, paving the way for its own future maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, and aiming to lock in cost advantages as the European aviation sector grapples with capacity bottlenecks and inflationary pressures.
A New Phase in a 30 Year Ryanair CFM Alliance
The memorandum of understanding signed on 10 February 2026 between Ryanair and CFM marks a significant shift in how the airline will manage its engines over the next decade. CFM, the joint venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aerospace, already powers Ryanair’s entire Boeing 737 fleet with CFM56 and LEAP 1B engines. Under the new multi year, multi billion dollar material services agreement, CFM will supply spare parts and repair services to support roughly 2,000 engines, as Ryanair grows towards a projected fleet of 800 Boeing 737 aircraft in the 2030s.
For Ryanair, this is about much more than securing a pipeline of components. The carrier has relied for years on a power by the hour maintenance model, where CFM took direct responsibility for engine upkeep. From 2029 onwards, that paradigm will change. The airline plans to take engine maintenance largely in house, supported by the new services framework and underpinned by bulk purchasing of spares that could top 1 billion dollars per year. It is a calculated bet that centralising technical control will help Ryanair tame the maintenance cost escalation that has become a defining challenge for airlines since the pandemic.
CFM, for its part, cements a relationship with one of its largest customers worldwide and guarantees strong aftermarket demand for both mature CFM56 units and its newer generation LEAP 1B program. In an environment where airframers are constrained by delivery delays and engine makers are racing to expand support capacity, locking in long term, high volume partners like Ryanair is crucial to securing predictable revenue and planning industrial investments.
Massive Engine Support Deal Anchored in a Multi Billion Parts Pipeline
The headline numbers around the new agreement underline the scale of Ryanair’s ambitions. The carrier expects to commit to purchasing in excess of 1 billion dollars annually in spare engines and engine parts from CFM once its in house maintenance operation is fully up and running. Those spares will support both its legacy Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, powered by CFM56 7B engines, and its growing fleet of 737 MAX based Gamechanger aircraft, using LEAP 1B powerplants.
This latest MoU builds on a series of moves by Ryanair to deepen its technical partnership with CFM. In June 2025, the airline unveiled a 500 million dollar deal to acquire 30 additional LEAP 1B spare engines. That purchase lifted its spare engine pool to more than 120 units, one of the largest such reserves in Europe. The stated goal was to bolster operational resilience at a time when engine shop capacity has been heavily constrained, with turn times stretching and unplanned groundings hitting airline schedules.
Taken together, the 2025 spare engine order and the 2026 long term material services framework illustrate a deliberate strategy to insulate Ryanair from the volatility that has afflicted the wider aviation supply chain. Rather than remain solely at the mercy of external maintenance slots and parts availability, the airline is using its scale to lock in dedicated flows of hardware from CFM, while preparing to do more of the hands on technical work itself.
For travelers, these are backstage moves with far reaching implications. A stronger spare engine pool and guaranteed parts pipeline can directly translate into fewer flight cancellations and delays due to aircraft being grounded for lack of components. They also position Ryanair to maintain its reputation for aggressive pricing by damping one of the fastest rising cost lines in the modern airline business.
Ryanair’s Big Bet on In House MRO Capacity
At the core of the new relationship is Ryanair’s plan to open two dedicated engine maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Europe from the end of this decade. While low cost carriers have traditionally relied heavily on outsourced MRO providers, Ryanair is joining the ranks of legacy groups like Air France KLM and Lufthansa by investing in its own engine shops. The blueprint calls for each site to cost in the region of 400 million euro to 500 million euro and employ around 600 highly skilled engineers and technicians.
Potential locations being evaluated span several European states, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Baltic region. Continental Europe is widely seen as the most likely base, reflecting both market access and workforce considerations. The first facility is expected to come online in 2028 or 2029, with the second following early in the next decade as the fleet and engine count grow.
This is a strategic shift with potentially far reaching competitive consequences. By controlling its own engine shop capacity, Ryanair aims to schedule overhauls during low demand periods, ensure faster turnaround times and avoid being squeezed out by higher paying customers when global MRO capacity is tight. The company’s leadership has been explicit that the move is driven by a determination to curb maintenance cost inflation and secure operational independence in an era of recurring supply chain shocks.
For Europe’s aviation landscape, the emergence of a major new independent engine MRO player of Ryanair’s scale could reshape flows of work across the continent. The airline will initially focus on its own fleet, but the skills, tooling and approvals needed to maintain hundreds of CFM engines every year could ultimately open the door to third party work, adding another dimension to competition in the region’s technical services market.
LEAP Engines, Fuel Efficiency and the Sustainability Angle
The Ryanair CFM partnership is built around two engine families that have defined short haul flying over the past generation in Europe: the workhorse CFM56 7B and its newer, more efficient successor, the LEAP 1B. Ryanair operates the largest CFM56 powered 737 Next Generation fleet in Europe and is rapidly expanding its LEAP powered 737 8 200 Gamechanger and future 737 10 aircraft.
For travelers and regulators focused on climate performance, the LEAP program is particularly important. Ryanair and CFM state that LEAP 1B engines can reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per seat by up to 15 to 20 percent compared to older CFM56 powered aircraft, while also cutting noise footprints. Those gains are central to Ryanair’s strategy to maintain its cost leadership while aligning with tightening European environmental regulations and airport noise restrictions.
The airline expects to grow its traffic to around 300 million passengers per year by 2034, up from just over 200 million before the pandemic recovery. That expansion, if achieved, will hinge on deploying hundreds of high density, fuel efficient 737 MAX family jets, all powered by CFM engines. Ensuring that these newer engines stay on wing, avoid extended groundings and receive timely overhauls is the job now entrusted to the strengthened partnership and future in house MRO capability.
By securing deep technical support for both generations of engines, Ryanair is also bridging an important transition period in aviation technology. CFM56 units will remain in service for many years, even as LEAP engines take over the bulk of new flying. Harmonising maintenance, spares and shop capacity across both families is crucial to keeping the combined fleet operating smoothly at the scale Ryanair envisions.
Supply Chain Pressures and Europe’s Wider Aviation Shake Up
The timing of Ryanair’s move reflects a broader shake up in European and global aviation, where engine maintenance has become one of the industry’s most acute bottlenecks. Since the pandemic, engine makers and MRO providers have struggled with parts shortages, labour constraints and swelling shop queues. New generation engines, while more fuel efficient, have also introduced complex technical teething issues and heavier early life maintenance needs.
The result has been a wave of grounded aircraft across multiple airline groups and rising concern from regulators over reliability and spare capacity. European carriers have been particularly exposed due to their heavy reliance on short haul fleets powered by a small number of engine families. Against this backdrop, Ryanair’s push to take control of its own engine maintenance destiny is both a defensive and offensive move, ensuring that it is less exposed to systemic shocks than rivals.
The shake up is not limited to engines. Aircraft delivery delays, especially in the narrowbody segment, have constrained growth across the continent and forced airlines to sweat existing assets harder and for longer. That puts additional pressure on the engines already in service. By building out its own MRO footprint and locking in CFM parts support, Ryanair aims to keep more of its aircraft flying reliably even as Europe’s wider aviation ecosystem works through capacity constraints.
For travelers, the indirect benefits include better schedule reliability and a greater likelihood that capacity growth plans can be delivered on time, which in turn helps restrain upward pressure on fares. While Ryanair itself has warned that ticket prices are unlikely to fall significantly in the near term due to factors such as environmental charges and air traffic control costs, controlling maintenance overheads is one of the few levers airlines have left to offset these external pressures.
Cost Leadership, Competition and What It Means for Travelers
Ryanair has built its brand around ultra low fares and no frills service, a model underpinned by relentless attention to operating costs. Engine maintenance is one of the largest and most volatile items in that cost base. By redefining its relationship with CFM, the airline is signalling that it intends to remain Europe’s cost leader well into the 2030s, even as fuel, labour and regulatory expenses rise.
Central to this strategy is scale. Few carriers globally, and none in Europe’s low cost segment, operate a single type fleet as large and homogenous as Ryanair’s 737 operation. That gives the airline unusual leverage in negotiations with suppliers and allows it to justify massive investments in dedicated infrastructure such as the planned engine shops. The new CFM agreement effectively monetises that scale advantage, translating it into lower per engine maintenance costs and greater control of the timing and quality of overhaul work.
For rival airlines, particularly other budget and leisure carriers across Europe, the implications are stark. Many competitors rely on a mix of outsourced MRO providers and engine maker facilities, often paying higher unit costs and facing greater scheduling uncertainty. As Ryanair’s in house capabilities and spare engine buffer grow, the gap in operating resilience could widen, especially during peak summer seasons when shop slots are scarce and disruptions most painful.
Travelers, meanwhile, are likely to experience the impact less in dramatic fare cuts than in incremental improvements in reliability and network resilience. A carrier with abundant spares, efficient engine turnaround times and strong technical independence is better placed to keep aircraft in the air and avoid cascading cancellations when unforeseen issues arise. For frequent flyers on busy intra European routes, that can be as valuable as a few euros off the ticket price.
CFM’s MRO Strategy and the Future of Engine Support in Europe
The Ryanair agreement also dovetails with CFM’s own evolving strategy in the maintenance arena. In recent years, the engine maker has promoted an open MRO ecosystem for its LEAP engines, licensing independent providers under what it calls Premier MRO branding. The goal is to broaden the network of capable shops, reduce bottlenecks and give airlines more choice while maintaining technical and safety standards.
By committing to support Ryanair’s future in house shops with materials, repairs and transition services, CFM is effectively extending that philosophy to one of its largest customers. During the ramp up phase, while Ryanair’s facilities are being built and staffed, CFM is expected to provide direct MRO services to bridge the gap and ensure continuity of engine support. Over time, as the airline’s own shops reach full capability, they will become a key pillar in the broader LEAP and CFM56 support network.
This collaborative model reflects a recognition that no single manufacturer led system can handle the maintenance needs of a rapidly expanding global fleet on its own. Europe, with its high density of short haul flying and tight regulatory environment, is likely to be a proving ground for hybrid support arrangements that blend OEM expertise, airline in house capability and independent MRO capacity.
For passengers, these developments may seem far removed from the airport concourse, but they underpin the reliability, safety and affordability of the flights they take. As Ryanair and CFM deepen their partnership and move engine maintenance into a new phase, the ripple effects will be felt not only in corporate balance sheets and hangar bays, but also in the day to day travel experience across Europe’s skies.