Saudia has announced several aftermarket agreements related to its airline and maintenance operations at the Dubai Air Show.

Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier has signed terms with Boeing for its analytics tool aimed at improving maintenance operations and on-time performance of their Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft fleets.

The airline will use the OEM’s Optimized Maintenance Program, which draws on data analytics to provide insights for improved maintenance operations, and its Airplane Health Management digital offering, which applies predictive maintenance analytics and diagnostic tools to help improve the quality and speed of maintenance decisions.

Also, at the Dubai Air Show, Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI), the airline’s Jeddah-based MRO unit, signed a memorandum of agreement with Thales to focus on the development of line maintenance activities and in the development of an industrial partnership for repairs of aircraft parts.

Under the agreement, SAEI will gain expertise from Thales specialists promoting industrial and technological best practices to help improve SAEI’s competitiveness in the MRO market.    

“This important milestone demonstrates our ambition to become a world leader in the MRO market, working with established companies that will accelerate the pace of our industrial and technological development,” says Ibrahim A Al-Omar, director general of Saudia.

The carrier’s MRO division also added further capability by entering into a 10-year partnership with Honeywell to provide inspection, repair, overhaul and upgrades for the 131-9 auxiliary power units (APU) installed on Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320 aircraft. According to SAEI, the deal makes it the first authorized Honeywell service center in the Middle East region with a global licence for the 131-9 APU.