Rolling Daily Updates (July 2024)

July 31, 2024

HAECO Extends Cargolux 747 Maintenance

Hong Kong-based HAECO has extended its agreement with freighter airline Cargolux to provide base maintenance for its Boeing 747-400ERF aircraft. The contract is extended from 2026 through to 2028 and continues a partnership first formed in 2018. HAECO has serviced Luxembourg-headquartered Cargolux’s 747s from its Chinese facility located in Xiamen.

Honeywell To Provide Air India With APU Support

Honeywell has signed a long-term agreement with Air India covering maintenance support for the airline's auxiliary power units (APUs). The scope of the contract covers APUs on both existing aircraft and new fleets operated by Air India. The avionics giant says the MRO support will ensure high aircraft dispatch reliability and fleet availability while lowering unplanned maintenance costs across the Air India fleet.

July 30, 2024

Magellan, Aequs Explore Engine MRO JV Prospects

Magellan Aerospace Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Aequs to explore the prospect of setting up an engine MRO joint venture in Karnataka, India. The companies established joint venture Aerospace Processing India, which provides aerospace surface treatments, in 2008.

STS, MarathonNorco Enter Distribution Partnership

STS Component Solutions has entered an exclusive territory partnership with MarathonNorco Aerospace to become the exclusive distributor for its aerospace products in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

July 29, 2024

ATEC Academy Class For Educators

The Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) Academy is hosting professional development course for educators Aug. 10-11. The ATEC Academy is a new initiative led by a seasoned educator who teaches this course that “addresses the escalating difficulty in recruiting and retaining skilled instructors amidst the rising demand for technical workforce.” The course is limited to 20 seats and is supported by a group of A&P master teachers who will mentor participants.

High School Student Wins SkillsUSA Aviation Maintenance Competition

Kathryn Wilcox, a 15-year-old high school student at Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC), has won first place in aviation maintenance at the SkillsUSA National Competition. Wilcox also won first place in the SkillsUSA State Competition after just one year of studying aviation maintenance at MVCTC. You can read more about this unique high school airframe and powerplant program here.

July 26, 2024

Fokker Services Group Renews RNAF Support Contract

Fokker Services Group has renewed a total support contract with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNAF) covering standard parts and expendables. The contract covers more than 20,000 part numbers for a wide range of aircraft platforms operated by the RNAF, including logistics services, forecasting, consignment stock management and introduction of approved alternative items.

Vortex Aviation Gets Brazilian Engine MRO Approval

Vortex Aviation has been awarded type certification approval by the National Civil Aviation Authority of Brazil, which allows it to perform engine maintenance services for Brazilian customers. The approval process included a full review by Brazilian authorities of Vortex’s U.S. facilities and systems.

July 25, 2024

Vallair Partners With Paris College On MRO Training

Vallair has signed a memorandum of understanding with the College de Paris International to collaborate on aeronautical skills training, certification and development programs at Vallair Group subsidiary Aircraft Academy. The college says the partnership will help it target international candidates with technical diplomas who want to become aircraft mechanics or avionics technicians.

CrossConsense Lands New Aircraft Data Migration Deals

CrossConsense has secured two new contracts for aircraft data migration services. The first is an expansion of its relationship with a management consultancy covering aircraft data migration for a large flag carrier in Europe. The second is with an unnamed logistics provider specializing in international shipping, courier services and transportation.

July 24, 2024

Gulf Air Plans Bahrain MRO Facility

Gulf Air has announced plans to build a new MRO facility at Bahrain International Airport. The facility will include more than 21,500 ft.² of hangar space, stores, workshops and a dedicated tarmac. Gulf Air Group CEO Jeffrey Goh says it will be the airline's first purpose-built MRO facility.

HAECO Lands Loong Air Line Maintenance Deal

HAECO has signed a line maintenance contract with Loong Air covering services for the carrier’s Airbus A320-family aircraft, including certificate of release to service, transit support and cleaning, and ground services equipment. HAECO will provide services at Hong Kong International Airport.

July 23, 2024

SR Technics Inducts First GTF Engine

SR Technics has inducted its first Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engine at its Zurich facility, where it will be providing full disassembly, assembly and test capability. The induction makes SR Technics the 17thactive facility in Pratt’s growing GTF MRO network.

STS Receives First Mammoth Freighters Aircraft For P2F Conversion

Mammoth Freighters has delivered its first Boeing 777-200LR to STS Aviation Services’ Manchester facility, where it will undergo passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion. The companies signed an agreement in October 2022 to partner on 777-200LR and 777-300ER P2F conversions and maintenance.

July 22, 2024

Eurowings Technik Introduces Aviatar eTLB

Eurowings Technik has become the first CAMO organization in the Lufthansa Group to complete the introduction of the Aviatar Electronic Technical Logbook (eTLB), which is being used for the entire Eurowings fleet. The company says the eTLB has made flight operations more efficient and allowed it to replace paper processes.

Sanad Grows Engine Inductions, Workforce

In its first-half results for 2024, Sanad reported that its MRO division has 160 engine inductions planned this year—a 22% increase from 2023. The company has increased its workforce by 25% since last year and aims to have 630 employees by the end of this year.

July 19, 2024

SIAEC Trials Autonomous Buses At Changi Airport

SIA Engineering Company Limited (SIAEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Changi Airport Group and SATS Airport Services to trial the use of autonomous buses to transport airport staff around Singapore Changi Airport grounds. The proof of concept will start in the third quarter of 2024 with an on-board safety driver to monitor operations in a sterile environment before the second phase tests the technology in a live operational environment.

New Engine Alliance President

Gaston Persano has been named president of Engine Alliance, where he will lead a team focused on aftermarket service and support of the GP7200 engine. Persano was most recently Pratt & Whitney’s director of mature commercial engines business strategy and has held supply chain, fleet management and business strategy roles in various RTX businesses. Persano began his career with purchasing and aftermarket roles at Ford Motor Company.

July 18, 2024

Team JAS, Werner Aero Get ASA-100 Accreditation

Team JAS, a Florida-based component supplier and repair station, and Werner Aero, a New Jersey-based aftermarket supplier and asset management specialist, have earned ASA-100 accreditation from the Aviation Suppliers Association. The accreditation evaluates quality systems of civil aircraft parts distributors.

HAECO To Provide Line Maintenance For Chinese Carrier

HAECO has signed an agreement to conduct line maintenance for Chinese carrier Loong Air from its Hong Kong base. The agreement is the first between HAECO and Hangzhou-based Loong Air and covers Loong Air's fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 ceo and neo aircraft. The agreeement is comprised of several line maintenance services including certificate of release to service, transit support (both technical and non-technical), transit cleaning, and ground services equipment.

July 17, 2024

Unical Becomes Honeywell Distributor

Unical Aviation has been named a strategic channel partner for Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. It will serve as an authorized distributor for Honeywell’s aerospace products.

Wall Colmonoy Acquires Indurate Alloys

Brazing, surfacing and engineered materials specialist Wall Colmonoy has acquired Indurate Alloys, a supplier and manufacturer of thermal spray materials and equipment. The Canada-based company also provides additive manufacturing powders.

July 16, 2024

Mammoth Freighters Progresses Toward P2F Milestones

Mammoth Freighters has received the first complete shipset of Collins Aerospace’s cargo loading system for its Boeing 777-200LRMF passenger-to-freighter conversion. Mammoth currently has two 777s undergoing freighter conversion at Aspire MRO, and it expects to achieve full certification for the 777-200LRMF in the second half of this year.

Aventure Acquires Another 737NG For Teardown

Aventure Aviation has acquired a Boeing 737NG airframe which will be dismantled for parts at its faciiity in Coolidge, Arizona. The 737-700 aircraft was last operated by China Southern Airlines and is the 23rd 737NG aircraft acquired by Ascent.

July 15, 2024

Bird Aviation Renews Avion Express MRO Partnership

Cyprus-based MRO provider Bird Aviation has renewed its partnership with ACMI and charter operator Avion Express for the 2024-25 base maintenance. It will be providing nose-to-tail inspections and two-year checks on 10 of Avion Express’s aircraft.

Jetaire Invicta Gets A330 STC

Jetaire Group’s Invicta fuel tank flammability reduction solution has been approved for use on Airbus A330-200 and -300 series aircraft through an FAA supplemental type certificate. Jetaire says initial installations for the A330 series are being performed for a major aircraft lessor and will be placed with a Latin America-based operator later this year.

July 12, 2024

Etihad Engineering Training Milestone

Etihad Engineering has hired its first batch of aircraft maintenance trainees from its Aircraft Maintenance On the Job Experience (OJE) Program with Vision Concept Aviation Training Institute, which was launched in December 2022. Managed by Etihad Engineering Technical Training, the OJE program trains more than 10,000 aviation professionals annually.

Ethiopian Airlines Inaugurates Leap 1B Test Cell

Ethiopian Airlines has inaugurated its CFM International CFM Leap 1B engine test cell at its Addis Ababa MRO Services facility. It says the test cell will enable it to finalize development of performance restoration shop visit repairs on the engine.

July 11, 2024

Aero K Airlines Picks AMOS Software

Korean ultra-low-cost carrier Aero K Airlines has selected Swiss-AS’s AMOS software to streamline operations, increase efficiency and reduce overall maintenance costs.

LOT Taps LHT For CFM56 Support

Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has signed a new engine maintenance services contract with LOT Polish Airlines covering CFM International CFM56-7B engines on the airline’s Boeing 737NG fleet. LHT is performing engine overhauls in Hamburg and will provide LOT with two lease engines to ensure operational stability.

July 10, 2024

Liebherr-Aerospace Building New Michigan MRO Facilities

Liebherr-Aerospace has broken ground on a new building at its facilities in Saline, Michigan, which will expand its capacity for testing, repair, overhaul and reconditioning of its OEM heat transfer equipment. The new building is expected to be operational in late 2025.

AkzoNobel Starts European Modernization Program

AkzoNobel has started a €22 million ($23.8 million) redevelopment and modernization program for its aerospace coatings production site in Pamiers, France. The project will include two new buildings to add more warehousing and storage space, a new waste management facility, and two dedicated research and development labs for aircraft structure coatings and cabin interior coatings. AkzoNobel says the project will result in a 50% increase in overall capacity.

Jul. 9, 2024

SR Technics, Asiana Airlines Renew PW4000 MRO Deal

SR Technics has extended its Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine maintenance agreement with Asiana Airlines for a further five years. The Swiss MRO provider will continue to maintain the engines, which power the South Korean carrier's Airbus A330 aircraft fleet, from its facility in Zurich.

Air India Picks LHT For Boeing 777 Component Support

Lufthansa Technik has signed a multi-year agreement with Air India to take over Total Component Support for its whole Boeing 777 fleet, including MRO of aircraft components, access to its global pool and logistics services. It is the first contract signed between the two companies since Tata Group took over Air India in 2022.

Jul. 8, 2024

HAECO Extends Airbus Radome Services Deal

HAECO’s composite services division has extended its radome services agreement with Airbus. The contract now covers a range of Airbus aircraft, including the A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380. HAECO says it is the only approved repair station for Airbus in the Chinese mainland, and the radome repair services will be provided from its composites facility in Jinjiang.

Airinmar Lands GetJet Airlines Agreement

Asset management and fleet support services provider Airhub Aviation has signed a multi-year services agreement with Airinmar covering cost oversight services for its partner GetJet Airlines. According to Airinmar, the services will help ensure compliance with GetJet’s contracted component repairs and the cost evaluation of time and material quoted repairs.

Jul. 5, 2024

 Air Tahiti Nui Goes Paperless

Air Tahiti Nui has selected GAMIT’s ROAM (Records Online Asset Management) software to digitize its technical records. The software will enable it to digitally manage maintenance records, as well as monitor and manage airworthiness compliance.

VAS Aero Services Acquires Airbus A330s

VAS Aero Services has acquired seven Airbus A330s formerly operated by China Southern Airlines. It says the A330s’ Pratt & Whitney PW4170 engines will be made available for lease and harvested for used serviceable material, while the airframes will be designated for placement or possible teardown and parts harvesting.

Jul. 3, 2024

HK Express Airways Selects Ultramain ELB

HK Express Airways has selected Ultramain Systems’ Ultramain ELB electronic cabin and technical logbook software to capture real-time paperless data during maintenance processes. The airline says the software is part of its commitment to streamline processes and reduce environmental footprint.

Vallair Commences A330 Teardown

Vallair has begun teardown of an Airbus A330 for Danish spare components specialist Corax. Once the teardown is complete, there will be more than 1,500 used serviceable material parts removed from the aircraft that will be repaired and sold by Corax.

Jul. 2, 2024 

Comlux Malta Gets EASA Part 145 Certification

Comlux Malta has obtained European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 certification from the Civil Aviation Directorate of Malta, enabling it to provide line maintenance services for EASA-registered Airbus A320s and A220s at its facilities in Malta and Dubai.

Magnetic Training Launches Part 21 Training

Magnetic Training has launched a European Union Aviation Safety Agency Part 21 training course covering design and production of aviation products and related components. The first training will start in fall of 2024, and Magnetic says the course will help participants understand regulations around the airworthiness of aeronautical products, parts and appliances.