Air France Industries (AFI) has announced its first airframe maintenance venture in Eastern Europe after confirming a deal with Adria Airlines here at the show.
The French services giant will send Airbus A320s to the Slovenian carrier's repair operation for C checks, says AFI president Alain Bassil.
These will be overspill A320s from Air France that AFI does not have the capacity to handle and aircraft from third-party customers.
The addition of Adria's capacity means AFI will add another narrowbody C check line to the seven it already has in France.
Ljubljana
Adria has been building up its maintenance business recently, including the construction of a new hangar at its Ljubljana base.
AFI has similar partnerships with Royal Air Maroc on Boeing 737s and with TAP Air Portugal on A320 D checks.
The company is also looking at adding further capacity in "Europe and the surrounding regions" for handling any narrowbody work that either AFI or partner KLM Engineering and Maintenance cannot handle, says Bassil.
In other news, AFI revealed that it has taken a 40% stake in Florida-based Aero Maintenance Group, the aircraft component repair and services firm, giving the company a foothold in the North American market. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
Source: Flight Daily News
