Ryanair is investing £40 million to expand its maintenance facility at Prestwick Airport, in a move expected to create around 450 skilled engineering jobs and apprenticeships.
The project will increase the existing site from six to ten bays, making Prestwick the airline’s largest heavy maintenance base in Europe.
The new roles are set to cover aircraft mechanics, avionics specialists, structures technicians and supervisory positions, alongside 60 apprenticeships.
The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise are jointly providing more than £15 million to support the scheme, with some of the funding coming from the Ayrshire Growth Deal to help pay for wider infrastructure improvements across the Prestwick campus.
Those upgrades include car parking, a pedestrian footbridge and flood mitigation measures, while part of the investment will also support people facing barriers to employment, including older workers and those with little or no prior engineering experience.
First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish Government investment would support the creation of 450 skilled jobs at Prestwick and have a major economic impact in Ayrshire and beyond.
He added that Ryanair had chosen to expand at Prestwick because of the talent and expertise already on the ground, and said the government would continue backing good jobs and economic growth in Scotland.
Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said the expansion would help make Prestwick a key part of the airline’s long-term growth plans, with the carrier aiming to reach 800 aircraft and 300 million passengers by 2034.
He also said the latest investment builds on the airline’s £5 million Prestwick Training Academy, which opened in October 2024 and has already delivered 500 jobs.
Together, the developments underline Ryanair’s long-term commitment to Scotland and strengthen Prestwick’s role as a major engineering and training hub for Ayrshire.
