RYANAIR HAS OPENED an aircraft heavy maintenance facility at Shannon Airport as part of a €10 million investment. 

The facility is expected to employ 200 people in the locality, including licensed engineers, mechanics, and support staff.

It is Ryanair’s first aircraft heavy maintenance facility in Ireland, with the company investing €1o million in the 5,220 square metre, three-bay site at Hangar 5, one of ten fully occupied hangars on the Shannon campus.

The low-cost airline will lease the three-bay facility from Shannon Group as it grows to 600 aircraft by 2026.

“This investment resounds Ryanair’s commitment to the Midwest region and Ireland as a whole as it further drives post-pandemic recovery through connectivity, inbound tourism & employment,” Ryanair said in a statement.

Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said the investment is “a vote of confidence” in the future of the airport and represents “another significant boost for the region”. 

“The resulting jobs and investment are also consistent with our strategic plan to increase economic growth and retain skills and talent in the region. We have a close relationship with Ryanair, with Shannon Airport now having more destinations served by Ryanair than in 2019,” she said. 

Ryanair has operated from Shannon Airport since 1986, opening its base at the south-western airport in 2005. It has carried over 17 million customers to and from the airport to date.

Earlier this week, Ryanair announced that it had posted a €355 million loss for the 12 months to the end of March after another pandemic-curbed year for air travel.

The low-cost airline said it hopes to return to profitability in the current financial year but the sector’s recovery “remains fragile”, Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said.

Amid the uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine and the emergence of new variants of Covid-19 like Omicron just after Christmas — both of which damaged “close-in bookings and yields for the Christmas and Easter peak travel periods” — O’Leary said that the Irish carrier would not be able to provide profit guidance for the rest of the year. 

Last year’s €355 million full-year loss compares to the over €1 billion loss incurred by the airline in the first pandemic year.

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