SR Technics Offloads UK Line Station Network

Five UK line stations will be added to the Storm Aviation network following the acquisitions.

MRO provider SR Technics has sold its five UK-based line stations to Storm Aviation.

The line stations transferred to Storm Aviation, which has operated as a subsidiary of FL Technics since 2011, include locations at London Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport, Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport. In addition, it will also acquire a facility at Stansted which focuses on tooling, loan, repair and calibration. 

Two of the line station sites at Birmingham and Stansted will be new locations for Storm Aviation, with the company’s head office already located at the latter with its existing offering there including base maintenance services. Worldwide, its network of line stations surpasses 70 with five base maintenance facilities in operation.

As part of the acquisition, the company says it will also take new airline customers onboard including UPS, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. The move continues the expansion of its FL Technics parent company in the line maintenance segment following its move into North America with the acquisition of Canada-based Wright International.

Zilvinas Lapinskas, CEO of its FL Technics parent company, says the agreement between the companies has potential to deliver synergies for the combined business. “While global aviation continues to face significant headwinds, I am hopeful that by joining forces we will be better positioned to endure the ongoing disruption, and, most importantly, take advantage of the eventual recovery,” he says.

In a 2020 disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis, the Swiss MRO has looked to restructure other parts of its business in order to grow a specialist focus on engine maintenance.

These restructuring moves included offloading its design engineering solutions unit to groWING.aero and the sale of its Armac Systems subsidiary following a management buyout. The business, headquartered in Drogheda, Ireland, specializes in inventory planning and optimization software and will relaunch as a separate entity.

James Pozzi

As Aviation Week's MRO Editor EMEA, James Pozzi covers the latest industry news from the European region and beyond. He also writes in-depth features on the commercial aftermarket for Inside MRO.