Special Report: MRO Asia-Pacific update
European MRO breaks ground in Indonesia
November 1st 2014
One of Eastern Europe’s major airline maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)providers has taken its first major step into the Asian market, finalizing a deal that will see it set up extensive operations at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Read More »
FL Technics, headquartered in Vilnius, capital of the Baltic state of Lithuania, won a tender to rent of an 8,400 sq. m. aircraft maintenance hangar at the airport and will launch its operation with base maintenance services for Airbus A320 aircraft. The tender was conducted by PT Angkasa Pura II, the airport’s operator.
FL Technics and its local partners will operate a 24,500 square meter MRO centre, which will include the hangar, an adjacent ramp, aircraft parking stands and additional support facilities for up to three narrow body aircraft at any one time. The complex will employ 150 engineers, technicians and other qualified staff.
In 2013, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport handled almost 400,000 domestic and international flights carrying 59.7 million passengers and more than 342,000 tonnes of cargo. It is one of the largest airports in the Asia-Pacific and the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere.
“During the last couple of years we have been thoroughly exploring the Asian market,” explained Zilvinas Lapinskas, chief executive of the Lithuanian firm. “We are now confident we possess a deep understanding of its trends and the issues that local carriers are facing in the MRO segment, in a market with more than 5,000 aircraft in airline fleets,” he said.
“Moreover, quite a few Indonesian carriers are on the list of operators with the fastest growing fleets,” he said. Indonesia’s major carriers are planning to more than double their fleets in the next 10 to 15 years. With this in mind, FL Technics is considering building an additional hangar to accommodate growth in its business.
FL Technics will offer a comprehensive range of services, including A-to-D checks, interior refurbishment services, NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) inspections, composite and structure repairs and spare parts supply.
The company has an office in Malaysia, but the Indonesian MRO centre is its first regional, in-country facility. It also has offices in Russia, Britain, Poland and Italy. The company’s strong growth is backed by Avia Solutions Group, a leading air transport industry consultancy and provider, also headquartered in Vilnius.
Avia Solutions Group provides pilot and crew training, aviation staff leasing, ground handling and aircraft fuelling and other aviation related services. It is the largest aviation group in the Baltic States and one of the largest in Eastern Europe. Avia was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in March 2011, the first foreign company to do so. It is affiliated with General Electric and has more than 17 subsidiaries globally.
FL Technics is an EASA Part-145, Part-M, Part-147, Part-21 certified company, as well as a Boeing GoldCare Program partner, with certificate approvals in Russia, Bermuda and other countries. It currently services a wide range of Boeing, Airbus, ATR, Embraer, Bombardier CRJ, and other types of aircraft.
