Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009
Gulf News
Dubai Aircraft maintenance company SR Technics, owned by Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala, plans to build a new maintenance plant in Malta and will start handling British low-cost airline easyJet A319 planes there from the third quarter of 2010, the company announced yesterday at the Dubai Air Show 2009.
Construction of the facility, a four-bay narrow body hanger for base and heavy maintenance, will begin in mid-next year and be completed in early 2012.
From Malta, the company will have access to more than 2,000 narrow-body aircraft in the Middle East, North Africa region and Europe.
The lion's share of its business will be from European airlines, Bernd Kessler, chief executive of SR Technics, said.
"The first step is narrowbody, as we build our global MRO business. There will be more low-cost places established as we move into new regions," Kessler said at a conference.
Initially, the facility will only serve Airbus aircraft, but then expand its capabilities to Boeing and others.
While the investment value in the facility was not disclosed, Kessler said that the project has help from the government of Malta in funding and in tax benefits.
Additionally, Kessler said that its shareholders, mainly Mubadala Development Company, are financially healthy, "which will help us tremendously to grow our business in the future."
Eleven-year deal
The MRO company will perform maintenance on the airline's fleet of Airbus jets in Malta under a new 11-year maintenance deal. The deal, which will help easyJet reduce its maintenance costs, has a revenue potential of $1.6 billion, the companies said at a news conference.
Agreement will include line maintenance, lights maintenance, base maintenance, component repair and overhaul, provision of consumables and expendables and logistics services.
As the facility begins operations, all of its business will be from the British carrier.
However, as the sixth bay hanger comes online after 2012, "a quarter or a third of the business will be non-easyJet business and will grow as we move forward," Kessler said.
By Nadia Saleem
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
