Snecma Services is pushing ahead with plans to expand its presence in Asia following the signing of a 20-year CFM56 maintenance deal with Air China. The company is also looking at opportunities to set up a facility in India through a similar partnership with one or more of its Indian airline customers.
“The Indian market is going to be huge and we think there will be a need for a CFM shop there,” says Snecma Services chief executive Jean-Lin Fournereaux.
In China, Snecma Services is planning to service the first CFM56-5Bs and -7Bs at its facility in Chengdu by early 2008, Fournereaux says. The company has signed a 20-year contract to maintain Air China’s CFM56-5Bs and -7Bs through its joint venture Sichuan Snecma Aero-engine Maintenance (SSAMC), which already overhauls CFM56-3s.
Fournereaux says the company serviced around 30 engines at the site in 2005 and a slight increase on this number is forecast for 2006. Once the facility is upgraded to be capable of carrying out -5B and -7B work, he says, “in terms of industrial means we could grow to 100 shop visits per year, although we would need additional workforce”. The company is making “major capital investments” in the Chengdu site to upgrade testing facilities and install new machines and tooling.
In parallel, the company is seeking to increase third-party business at the site.
Snecma Services already carries out work for other Chinese airlines, including Hainan Airlines. Fournereaux says: “We hope to be able to capture some other customers.”
HELEN MASSY-BERESFORD/LONDON
Source: Flight International
