Referral of the proposed subsidy to Ryanair UK Limited by Invest Northern Ireland

We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has accepted a request for a report providing advice to Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) concerning its proposed subsidy to Ryanair UK Limited (Ryanair). 21 August 2026: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from Invest NI concerning the proposed subsidy to Ryanair. This request relates to a Subsidy of Particular Interest. The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of Invest NI’s assessment of whether the subsidy complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days. Invest Northern Ireland are proposing to award Ryanair a subsidy of £67 million to support the establishment of a large-scale Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for its aircraft engines in Northern Ireland, creating semi-skilled, skilled and professional jobs, with the aim of reducing Northern Ireland’s regional productivity disadvantage by increasing the amount of capital investment in Northern Ireland. The subsidy will comprise capital grant and employment related grant. Ryanair is eligible to receive this subsidy under the Industrial Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 and the Industrial Development Act (Northern Ireland) 2002. The subsidy will be paid in arrears against evidence of capital expenditure and employment creation. If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAU’s evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning the proposed subsidy to Ryanair, please send your comments by the date stipulated in the timetable above. For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit . Please send your submissions to us at sau-ryanair2026@cma.gov.uk , copying the public authority: subsidycontrol@economy-ni.gov.uk . Please also provide a contact address and explain in what capacity you are making the submission (for example, as an individual or a representative of a business or organisation). The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with Invest NI. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to Invest NI together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to grant or modify the subsidy or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with Invest NI using the email address provided above. The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance. For further details on confidentiality of third-party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit . Contents Is this page useful? Maybe Yes this page is useful No this page is not useful Thank you for your feedback Report a problem with this page Help us improve GOV.UK Do not include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab and requires JavaScrip