Ryanair Portugal's New 4,900 m² Aircraft Maintenance Facility Officially Opens

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 10, Ryanair officially opened its new €40 million aircraft maintenance facility at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto, Portugal. The project includes a production hangar with a floor area of approximately 4,900 m² equipped with two aircraft maintenance bays, as well as a component repair workshop. It connects with the airport's existing maintenance bay to form a three-bay maintenance system, tripling Ryanair's aircraft maintenance capacity at Porto Airport.

The new hangar features a dual-bay layout capable of carrying out maintenance work on two aircraft simultaneously, complemented by a component repair workshop, forming a facility system that combines airframe maintenance with component repair. The two new bays, together with the one bay in the existing hangar, constitute a three-bay maintenance capability, expanding the space available for aircraft inspection, maintenance and technical support at the Porto base.

According to information published by Ryanair, the Porto maintenance facility primarily serves its local flight operations. Aircraft can return to the base at night for inspection and maintenance, and re-enter route operations after completing the necessary technical support. Compared with the previous single-bay facility, the new hangar increases the number of aircraft that can undergo maintenance simultaneously and reduces the dependence of maintenance resources on a single bay.

This investment also involves the training of aviation maintenance professionals. Ryanair plans to add more than 150 engineering, mechanical maintenance and apprenticeship positions in northern Portugal, and has established partnerships with more than 10 local universities, polytechnic institutes, vocational schools and aviation maintenance training institutions to provide technical personnel for the new facility. Training content will focus on aircraft maintenance, component upkeep and related professional skills.

Porto is one of Ryanair's four operating bases in Portugal, alongside Faro, Lisbon and Madeira. The company currently has approximately 30 aircraft across its four Portuguese bases and carries more than 14 million passengers to and from Portugal each year. The expansion of the Porto maintenance facility is aligned with local fleet operations and also provides maintenance support for its flight network in Portugal.

Ryanair has stated its goal of expanding its fleet to more than 800 aircraft and reaching 300 million annual passengers by 2034. As the fleet and route network expand, demand for routine aircraft inspections, component repairs and base maintenance resources will also increase. With the opening of the Porto maintenance facility, the related maintenance capacity will expand from one bay to three bays, providing support for future flight operations and fleet growth.