Ryanair 2009 Annual Report Download - page 59

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MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
General
As part of its commitment to safety, Ryanair endeavors to hire qualified maintenance personnel,
provide proper training to such personnel, and maintain its aircraft in accordance with European industry
standards. While Ryanair seeks to maintain its fleet in a cost-effective manner, management does not seek to
extend Ryanair’s low-cost operating strategy to the areas of maintenance, training or quality control.
Ryanair’s quality assurance department deals with oversight of all maintenance activities in accordance
with Part 145. The European Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”), which established Part 145, came into being
on September 28, 2003, through the adoption of Regulation (EC) No. 1592 / 2002 of the European Parliament,
and its standards superseded the previous Joint Aviation Authority (“JAA”) requirements. See “Government
RegulationRegulatory Authorities.”
Ryanair is itself an EASA Part 145-approved maintenance contractor and provides its own routine
aircraft maintenance and repair services. Ryanair also performs certain checks on its aircraft, including pre-
flight, daily, and transit checks at some of its bases, as well as A-checks at its Dublin, London (Stansted), and
Bremen facilities. Since December 2003, Ryanair has operated a two-bay hangar facility at its base at Glasgow
(Prestwick) in Scotland, where it carries out A-checks and C-checks on the fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The
facility performs two C-checks per week, enabling Ryanair to perform all of its current heavy maintenance
requirements on its Boeing 737-800 fleet in-house. Ryanair opened a 12,000 square meter 5 bay hangar and
stores facility at its London (Stansted) airport base in October 2008 to allow Ryanair to carry out additional line
maintenance on its expanding fleet. This facility also incorporates 2 flight simulator devices with space and
provisions for 2 more, together with a cabin crew trainer and associated training rooms,
Maintenance and repair services that may become necessary while an aircraft is located at one of the
other airports served by Ryanair are provided by other Part 145-approved contract maintenance providers.
Aircraft return each evening to Ryanair’s bases, where they are examined by Ryanair’s approved engineers (or,
in the case of Brussels (Charleroi), Stockholm (Skvasta), Rome (Ciampino), Frankfurt (Hahn), Milan
(Bergamo), Marseille, Barcelona (Girona), Madrid, Alicante and Dusseldorf (Weeze), by local Part 145-
approved companies).
Heavy Maintenance
As noted above, Ryanair currently has sufficient capacity to be able to carry out all of the routine
maintenance work required on its Boeing 737-800 fleet itself. However, Ryanair occasionally contracts with
outside maintenance providers for some heavy maintenance services that it cannot accommodate in its own
facilities. In those circumstances Ryanair enters into short-term, ad hoc contracts with reputable Part 145-
approved suppliers of heavy maintenance in the U.K. and Europe, such as ATC Lasham, for the carrying-out of
the heavy maintenance overhauls currently required on its relatively new fleet. Although Ryanair believes that it
has sufficient capacity at its existing London (Stansted) and Glasgow (Prestwick) facilities to accommodate the
additional maintenance requirements that it expects to arise beginning in winter 2010 due to the aging and
expansion of its fleet, Ryanair is also negotiating with several European airports from which it operates to build
a new hangar facility. Ryanair contracts out engine overhaul service for its Boeing 737-800 aircraft to General
Electric Engine Services of Cardiff, Wales, a Part 145-approved contractor, pursuant to a 10-year agreement
with an option for a 10-year extension, signed in 2004. This comprehensive maintenance contract provides for
the repair and overhaul of the CFM56-7 series engines fitted to the first 155 of Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800
aircraft, the repair of parts and general technical support for the fleet of engines. On June 30, 2008, the
Company finalized a contract for a similar level of coverage and support for the engines on all of its aircraft that
have been or are scheduled to be delivered as well as any option aircraft delivered pursuant to the Company’s
current contracts with Boeing over the period through December 2011. By contracting with experienced Part
145-approved maintenance providers, management believes it is better able to ensure the quality of its aircraft
and engine maintenance. Ryanair assigns a Part 145-certified mechanic to oversee all heavy maintenance and to
authorize all engine overhauls performed by third parties. Maintenance providers are also monitored closely by
the national authorities under EASA and national regulations.
Ryanair expects to be dependent on external service contractors, particularly for engine and component
maintenance, for the foreseeable future, notwithstanding the additional capabilities provided by its maintenance