MARK PILLING / LONDON
Britannia Airways has returned to the third-party maintenance business after a 10-year absence with a contract to provide engineering support to Air Seychelles. The UK-based TUI group charter carrier will maintain two Air Seychelles Boeing 767-300ERs as part of a five-year total support deal, with both entering heavy C-checks at its London Luton base in June, says Nick White, Britannia's director of maintenance and engineering.
Britannia pulled out of third-party maintenance because a lack of cost control meant it did not know if it was a profitable business, explains White. The recent combination of the development of an in-house engineering system giving good control over maintenance costs and manpower, and an increasing volume of work for other TUI group carriers such as Hapag-Lloyd, "opened our eyes to third-party business again", he says.
Britannia wants to further increase its third-party work with "strategic partners" that complement its large internal maintenance programme, says White. The company is performing an increasing volume of work for TUI carriers.
Source: Flight International
