Swiss maintenance specialist SR Technics is set to continue operating its Malta base, with the facility's main client EasyJet having agreed to extend their partnership.
The UK low-cost carrier's head of maintenance Brendan McConnellogue told Flightglobal during a hangar-opening event at London Gatwick airport on 10 June that EasyJet would stick with SR Technics' Malta site for IL-checks on its Airbus A320-family fleet.
But he adds that the Luton-based airline has also contracted Lufthansa Technik to conduct the same heavy checks – which are typically completed after six years of operation – on part of its fleet. This work will likewise be carried out in Malta, where the German MRO group also has a base.
In 2010, SR Technics opened a two-bay hangar for narrowbody airframe heavy maintenance in the Mediterranean island nation, after signing a partnership with EasyJet. The MRO provider struggled to attract additional customers to the site, and when EasyJet undertook a review of its heavy maintenance requirements last year, SR Technics evaluated the future of its Maltese operation.
SR Technics hopes to establish the site as a specialist for end-of-lease checks for aircraft lessors. But this plan depends on a base workload from EasyJet.
The facility at Gatwick is for light checks, and was opened together with LHT. While the two-bay fabric hangar was built by EasyJet and is managed by the airline, LHT takes care of the maintenance work with a local team.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
