Ryanair has said its Boeing 737s will proceed “nose to tail” through Jordan for heavy maintenance for the next five winters following a new deal with MRO provider Joramco.

Under the five-year contract, Ryanair aircraft will occupy up to six heavy maintenance bay slots at Joramco’s Amman, Jordan facility during the five winter seasons. Joramco is a subsidiary of Dubai’s DAE.

The deal builds on a 2019 agreement between the parties, under which the Dublin-based low-cost carrier booked two lines at Joramco’s facility for heavy checks of its Boeing 737NG aircraft.

“Our 5-year growth plan will grow our fleet to over 600 aircraft and we are pleased to extend and enhance our agreement with Joramco who have been providing ad-hoc maintenance for our fleet for the past 3 years,” stated Ryanair’s director of operations, Neal McMahon.

“This agreement will ensure that Ryanair has flexibility as to where it places its aircraft for the winter maintenance season,” he added.

Ryanair has its own maintenance facilities in Lithuania, Scotland, Poland, Spain.

In 2019 Joramco gained EASA Part 145 approval for 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo maintenance, although it did not reveal whether it would perform any MAX maintenance for Ryanair. 

Given the youth of Ryanair’s MAX fleet across the life of the contract, it appears unlikely that Joramco will perform many heavy checks on such aircraft under it.

However, Ryanair’s continued trust in the Gulf MRO provider does enlarge the competitive landscape for narrowbody maintenance. And as airlines increasingly receive new-generation, longer-range aircraft, it will be interesting to see how far they are willing to venture for heavy checks.