Ryanair has abandoned plans for a €400m engine repair facility in Shannon, which would have created up to 500 jobs.
Michael O’Leary cited a lack of government support and limited trained labour in Ireland as reasons for excluding Shannon.
Derry remains a candidate for one of two planned facilities, but ranks lower than sites in eastern Europe, such as Poland or the Baltic states.
Each facility, costing €250m for construction and €150m for spare parts, will overhaul about 200 engines annually. Ryanair aims to manage rising engine maintenance costs, expected to increase from €9.4m to €20m per engine.
Michael O’Leary shared: “We had some discussions with Shannon, but there was very little government support. Ireland is operating at full employment, certainly in the aviation space. There was very little appetite at government level for an investment of this scale or the creation of these jobs in Ireland.”
Michael O’Leary shared: “The Belfast authorities are very keen to be selected. They are much more active. It’s certainly not going to be the first one chosen. It would be running well behind. We’re in active negotiations with six sites and it’s probably running at number four or five. Each site is going to cost us about €400m. You’re talking about small change coming from government. What really will drive a decision on these sites is demographics, the availability of trained labour. The labour side is the much bigger driver of this. Whether a government comes up with a grant package of €20m or €30m doesn’t make any difference in a €400m site.”
