Ryanair and CFM strengthen landmark partnership with long-term services agreement

Ryanair and CFM International announced the signing of a MoU for a long-term material services agreement to support Ryanair’s entire fleet of about 2,000 CFM56 and LEAP engines powering its Boeing 737 aircraft. The MoU, announced by Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, and Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, one of CFM’s two parent companies, will cover the provision of spare parts and parts repair from CFM for the two new engine MRO shops that Ryanair plans to establish in Europe from 2029. CFM will also support Ryanair with a services agreement for both CFM56 and LEAP engines, until the Ryanair MRO facilities are fully operational.

This agreement marks a new milestone in the historic partnership between Ryanair and CFM, dating back to 1998. Ryanair operates the world’s largest fleet of CFM-powered Boeing aircraft and the largest fleet of CFM56 engines in Europe, powering more than 400 Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. The airline currently has more than 200 LEAP-1B-powered Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in service. Ryanair has also placed an order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, with 150 additional options.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s Group CEO commented:  “We are pleased to extend our long-term partnership with CFM with this multi-billion-dollar spares support agreement. For the last 30 years, CFM has been maintaining all of Ryanair’s CFM56 engines under a long term “power by the hour” contract. However, from 2029 onwards, Ryanair expects to bring the maintenance of its engines “in-house”, and we are pleased to do so with the help and support of our partner CFM. Ryanair will place substantial orders for initial spare parts provisioning with CFM to support the opening of each of these 2 Ryanair engine maintenance facilities. When Ryanair takes over all its engine maintenance in-house, we expect this contract will be worth in excess of $1bn annually to CFM in spare engines and spare parts supplies. This new spare parts agreement extends our 30-year partnership with CFM, and we look forward to working closely with CFM, Safran and GE to support what will be one of the world’s largest commercial aircraft fleets, and one of the world’s largest packages of Boeing 737 engines too.” 

Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, stated: “This new major milestone further strengthens the strategic relationship we have built with Ryanair over the past three decades, and we are proud to support their continued growth through this comprehensive MRO services offering. With the ongoing 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 operational costs.”

H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, said: “Ryanair is one of our largest customers, and we value the opportunity to work with them on solutions to increase capacity and reduce turnaround time. This MoU demonstrates our commitment to an open MRO ecosystem that supports growing demand while reducing cost of ownership.”

CFM LEAP engines have experienced the fastest ramp-up in commercial aviation history. Advanced technologies like composite fan blades and ceramic matrix composites deliver an engine that’s 15 percent more fuel efficient, with 15 percent lower carbon emissions than prior-generation CFM56 engines. Backed by advanced health monitoring systems and an open MRO ecosystem, CFM LEAP engines offer mature reliability and enable high asset utilization for narrowbody aircraft.