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Ryanair Holdings PLC on Tuesday said it has entered a new ‘multi-year, multi-billion-dollar’ contract with long-time partner CFM, a joint venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aerospace. The Dublin-based budget airline has inked a memorandum of understanding with CFM, which is equally owned by subsidiaries of Paris-based Safran SA and Boston, Massachusetts-based General Electric Co. This extends an existing tie-up, which has seen CFM maintain Ryanair’s engines for the past three decades in what the airline’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary called a ‘power by the hour’ contract. ‘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 partners 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,’ O’Leary said. Under the agreement, Ryanair will source all spare engine parts from CFM. The contract’s annual value is estimated above $1 billion from 2029, once the airline has opened two new engine maintenance, repair & overhaul shops. ‘The contract will support Ryanair’s existing & future CFM56-7B and LEAP-1B engines, which are fitted to the airlines Boeing 737 NG and MAX aircraft,’ the carrier explained. O’Leary added: ‘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.’ Safran CEO Olivier Andries hailed the ‘milestone’ agreement, saying: ‘We are investing to build a global MRO network within an open and competitive ecosystem.’ Head of GE Aerospace Larry Culp said the deal proves his firm’s focus on supporting demand while reducing ownership costs. ‘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,’ Culp noted. Ryanair shares were down 1.6% on Tuesday morning in Dublin to €27.75. Safran fell 1.1% to €311.10 in Paris, while General Electric rose 0.3% to $317.81 during pre-market trading in New York. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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