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The pandemic may have delayed progress for two years, but ambitious third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul companies in the Middle East are growing, investing heavily in infrastructure, generation and capacity as the region’s airlines take delivery . Twin-aisle fleets are returning to service and demand for widebody freighter conversions continues.
“We’ve been incredibly busy this year,” says David Doherty, vice president of advertising at Etihad Engineering, the region’s largest third-party MRO provider. “We have emptied the decks of the aircraft that were parked here during the pandemic, and we have now entered a phase of expansion that was planned before Covid. “
This year, the company will perform 1. 7 million hours of touch painting and is aiming for 2 million by 2024. Plans include new infrastructure on the 550,000-square-meter (5,920,000-square-foot) campus next to Abu Dhabi’s main airport, with additional hangars that will occupy between 16 and 24 aircraft bays through 2027. They already have 66,000 m² of hangar, adding Hangar 6, which is giant enough to house 3 Airbus A380s.
Part of the expansion will involve the creation of two (and likely four) Boeing 777-300ER passenger and freight (P2F) routes, as part of a partnership between the Abu Dhabi-based company and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
IAI and lessor GECAS, later acquired through AerCap, introduced the P2F program in 2019. Under the terms of the agreement, IAI will hold the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) and Etihad Engineering will act as integrator. Doherty expects the first plane to arrive early next year, subject to STC approval. They traveled to Tel Aviv for training.
Etihad Engineering has earned a reputation as an A380 specialist. Prior to Covid-19, the company conducted the first global test in 12 years on an A380 for an undisclosed domestic airline. In June, this followed with a six-year in-depth overhaul of Etihad Airways’ first A380 to return to service after the pandemic.
Despite the production halt, Doherty believes the world’s largest airliner will remain lucrative for Etihad Engineering, with around three-quarters of the pre-Covid fleet back in service. In total, wide-body aircraft represent 80% of the company’s traffic. , with regular visitors being the A350 and A330, as well as the 777, 787 and 767. “We are structuring our budget around wide-body aircraft,” he says.
Etihad Engineering is expanding its portfolio in other ways. In March, it announced a letter of intent with Collins Aerospace to identify a nacelle and push inverter “center of excellence” at its Abu Dhabi facility. While a contract will need to be finalized, the move will allow Etihad Engineering to “work beyond the repair manual” and offer “OEM-approved solutions,” Doherty says.
Additive manufacturing, mainly of interior spare parts for kitchens, seats and toilets, is another area of expansion and reflects the growing popularity of immediate replacement of parts. Since acquiring its first 3D printer in 2019, Etihad Engineering has produced more than 10,000 3D published parts per year. These parts range from individual sets to masses of up to 300.
“We are fully embracing 3D printing and will see the monetary benefits,” says Mohd Aizat, head of design, engineering and innovation, as he introduces the company’s newest EOS selective laser sintering machine, which has doubled additive manufacturing capacity. from Etihad Engineering. .
Although a recent restructuring of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned assets means that Etihad Engineering is no longer a department of its sister airline, Etihad Airways remains a major customer, accounting for around 40% of the MRO specialist’s business in recent years. Although the ratio has declined as Etihad renews its fleet, the airline plans to expand it again, “giving us a platform for growth,” Doherty says.
It turns out that Etihad Airways does not receive any preferential treatment. ” Customers appreciate our ability to provide top-notch support,” says Doherty. “Any suggestion that we don’t treat all of our customers the same is simply false, and this is transparent from our combination of third-party paints and customers around the world. “
The company’s neighbor, the Sanad MRO engine, was a component of Etihad Engineering until nine years ago as Abu Dhabi Aerospace Technologies, and before that GAMCO, which was established there in 1987. When the airframe business was transferred to Etihad Airways, the engines department was retained through the state-owned investment organization Mubadala and was first renamed TS
Like its former team partner, Sanad has recovered well from the pandemic and has benefited from what the group’s chief executive, Mansoor Janahi, calls its “diversified portfolio of mid-maturity programs,” adding the 787’s GE Aerospace GEnx, the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 powering the A330 and the International Aero Engines V2500, installed on approximately a portion of all A320ceo aircraft.
In Paris, it signed an 11-year agreement with GE and Safran (owners of CFM International) to become the first full-service MRO provider in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa on the Leap-1A and Leap-1B, obliging the A320neo and 737 Max, respectively. He already had an agreement with GE for “fast” overhauls of the Leap, but this was his first partnership with Safran.
Janahi described the move as a “major opportunity” for Sanad, given the “strong penetration” of state-of-the-art airframes in the Middle East. This builds on a long-standing relationship with GE. A decade ago, ADAT, as it was, will become one of the first GEnx department stores outside of GE’s network, and as the engine matures after 12 years of service on the 787, it will continue to be a successful program for Sanad, he says.
The company is also the only complete Trent 700 paint shop outside the R-R network, following a deal announced at the 2019 Paris exhibition that completed its A330 engine offering. On the V2500, it also recently completed paints for American Airlines, the first time a U. S. airline has used an MRO supplier for engine paints in the Middle East, Janahi says.
This year, Sanad expects to create 139 jobs in engines, up from 121 last year. In five years, Janahi expects to have an annual total of 200, with the Leap and V2500 accounting for about 30% and the Trent 700 and GEnx splitting the rest. He also studies “natural adjacencies,” such as the shift to auxiliary force units.
Janahi will also “export our services” beyond the UAE. “We are surrounded by strong markets (India, Eastern Europe and Africa) and we need to do business in partnership with local companies,” he says. In 2022, Sanad signed a “Preliminary Agreement” with Indonesian company GMF to identify an engine MRO center in that country.
In Jordan, Joramco – the MRO company owned by aircraft lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise – also has big ambitions, adding the structure of two space hangars, a P2F conversion line and a wide-body paint facility. The Amman-based company expects the first hangar to be in one position next year, as part of its vision to be “an independent global MRO that provides a complete end-to-end solution. “
In August, Joramco announced that a Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighter would be its first foray into the P2F market as part of a deal with the US manufacturer. Mike Doellefeld, vice president of engineering services at Boeing, says the deal aligns with the manufacturer’s goal. “bring freighter conversion capacity closer to our customers. “
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