Romanian manufacturer Aerostar is pinning its hopes on the airliner maintenance market for future growth as it faces a slowdown in military upgrade work due to a lack of funding.
Bacau-based Aerostar has set up Aerostar Maintenance International in London to market Boeing 737 overhauls with the aim of starting work on the first aircraft later this year.
Aerostar completed the 110-unit Mikoyan MiG-21 Lancer upgrade programme for the Romanian air force in April. The company last month delivered the first two of 12 MiG-21s being upgraded for the Croatian air force. A plan to offer RSK MiG-29 upgrades is on hold due to a lack of financing, but the company recently received a request from Bangladesh for the overhaul of Aero Vodochody L-39s.
Aerostar is focusing on building its presence in the civil market and two years ago won European JAR 145 approval from the Romanian civil aviation authority to carry out Bae ATP overhauls.
Source: Flight International
