Ryanair buys 30 new spare engines worth €430m

Kenneth Fox

Ryanair on Tuesday announced it has reached agreement with CFM to buy 30 new spare LEAP-1B engines which have a list price of $500 million (€437 million).

The fuel-efficient engines, which will deliver over the next 2 years, will support Ryanair’s fleet of 210x B737 Gamechanger aircraft and also the B737 MAX-10 aircraft which deliver in 2027.

The 30 new engines will increase Ryanair’s pool of spare engines to over 120, which the company said will enhance its operational resilience.

Ryanair plans to increase its fleet to 800x B737s (all powered by CFM engines) to grow its traffic to 300 million a year by 2034.

Speaking about the news, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “We are pleased to continue to develop our longstanding partnership with CFM (Safran & GE Aerospace).

"The purchase of 30 new LEAP-1B spare engines is a significant $500 million commitment to improve the operational resilience of our Group airlines.

"These latest technology CFM engines reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per seat by up to 20 per cent when installed on our B737 MAX fleet, which will further widen Ryanair’s cost leadership over competitor airlines in Europe.”

Meanwhile, CFM’s president and chief executive, Gael Meheust, said: “This new agreement is another milestone in the long and successful partnership we have built with Ryanair.

"We look forward to continuing to support Ryanair’s significant growth by providing them with industry-leading reliability and utilization standards”.