Heavy Maintenance
Ryanair’s Heavy Maintenance Programme is one of the most efficient in the world.
Heavy Maintenance is a continuous programme of maintenance tasks and inspections carried out on our aircraft. The maintenance intervals for each aircraft are controlled by calendar time or flying hours/cycles. The time committed to these maintenance tasks can vary from a few hours to a few weeks.
Maintenance is carried out in four of our bases across Europe:
Prestwick, UK
Kaunas, Lithuania
Wroclaw, Poland
Seville, Spain
Frankfurt Hahn, Germany
Shannon, Ireland
From June to August all our aircraft are very busy flying and so as a result, we try to operate our heavy maintenance season from September to May.
During heavy maintenance, checks are carried out on all areas of the aircraft.
The 4 general zones that are maintained include the cabin and avionics, wings and engines, tail and fuselage. The level of detail required for these checks varies depending on the check type. These checks are routine and are carried out at different intervals. An ‘A’ check is performed every 6,000 flying hours up to an 8-year check which is carried out every 8 years.
As part of heavy maintenance we provide a variety of training programmes to suit candidate’s experience. These training programmes include an apprenticeship scheme for individuals with little or no experience. As an apprentice with us you’ll learn everything about aircraft maintenance and can become a mechanic once your apprenticeship is completed.
