Ryanair is to service some of its aircraft in Malta at a new €20m maintenance and overhaul facility adjacent to Malta airport.

The announcement was made at a press conference at Castille.

Ryanair’ CEO, Eddie Wilson said operations will start in October with one maintenance bay, and employing 20 people.

The project will eventually grow to employ 250.

The first phase of the project will see Ryanair operate from an existing hangar before growing in a new three-bay hangar. 

“We want to cement our relationship here,” Wilson said, noting that Ryanair has its own subsidiary airline in Malta and operates from here to 62 destinations.

The Ryanair group has some 500 aircraft.

Wilson thanked Malta Enterprise for facilitating the investment, saying it was as easy as working in Ireland, where Ryanair is based.   

Aircraft maintenance services in Malta took off when Lufthansa Teknik opened a large facility here in 2003. A Ryanair rival, Easyjet, started servicing its aircraft in Malta in 2016 at SR Teknik. Medavia also have an aircraft maintenance facility in Gudja.

The Ryanair investment was welcomed by Prime Minister Robert Abela, economy minister Silvio Schembri and energy and industry minister Miriam Dalli. 

Schembri said this was a testament of how Malta is an attractive investment destination.  

Abela said this was a milestone in the development of Malta's aviation sector and a vote of confidence in Maltese workers. The government, he said, was committed to boosting educational institutions to address the skills gap and provide enough workers for the industry.