Irish Ryanair, the largest European low-cost airline, in the long term is considering the possibility of building its own aircraft maintenance infrastructure in Ukraine, in particular, an aircraft engine maintenance shop, investments in which will amount to $500 million, the executive director of the airline, Michael O’Leary, said.
“In the long term, we are considering the possibility of building our own aircraft maintenance hangars in Ukraine and performing aircraft maintenance, in particular engines,” he said in interview with “Interfax-Ukraine” agency.
O’Leary reminded that in the first stage, within a year after the resumption of flights to Ukraine, the company will place 16-17 planes in three Ukrainian airports.
“We plan to place planes, pilots, flight attendants, spare parts in Boryspil, Lviv and Odesa within 12 months. We could have 10 planes in Kyiv, maybe five planes in Lviv and one or two planes in Odesa, doubling their number over the next two to four years, as traffic increases,” the head of the company clarified.
According to him, Ryanair is studying the possibility of building its own engine maintenance workshop in Europe, the investment in which will amount to $500 million. It can be located on the territory of Ukraine.
“We are planning to build our own engine maintenance shop, the investment in which will be $500 million. We want to open it in Europe, and I think Ukraine would be a very interesting place for something like that. Ukraine has a highly qualified population, besides, it will soon become a member of the European Union,” added O’Leary.
As reported, Ryanair this week announced its commitment to resume flights to/from Ukraine at low fares within eight weeks of the opening of Ukrainian airspace. The company plans to place up to 30 new Boeing 737 MAX worth more than $3 billion in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa. It was noted that the airline is ready to make up to 600 flights a week. In addition, Ryanair plans to open daily flights between Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, as soon as the airports are ready for this.
It was noted that in the first 12 months after the start of operation, the airline plans to reach more than 5 million passenger seats per year and intends to increase this number to 10 million passenger seats within five years.
