Julian Moxon/BORDEUX
Middle East Airlines (MEA) is set to sign a deal with French maintenance company Sogerma to create a new venture at Beirut Airport in Lebanon.
Sogerma president Henri-Paul Puel says that he will sign a deal "within weeks" to create a company 34% owned by Sogerma, with the rest held by MEA. The venture, to be called Masco, will initially look after MEA's fleet of eight Airbus A320/A321s and A310s. The long term aim, according to Puel, is "to develop a strong maintenance capability in the Middle East serving local airlines". He adds that the deal is a "prototype" for other agreements which the Bordeaux-based company is seeking.
A novel maintenance agreement has also been signed with China Eastern Airlines, in which four of the carrier's Airbus A300-600s will have C checks carried out at Sogerma's Bordeaux factory. At the same time, Sogerma will train about 100 China Eastern engineers to perform the checks themselves at the airline's Shanghai base. In 1999, the French company will send a team to China to assist with the maintenance of the fifth aircraft, leaving the airline with an in-house capability. Puel says that the deal is of a type "-that we might see happening elsewhere".
Overall, the Aerospatiale subsidiary reduced its debt by 18%, from Fr1.34 billion ($223.3 million) in 1996 to Fr1.1 billion in 1997. This level, Puel says, will remain "basically unchanged" for 1998 because of the need to invest in tooling for the Airbus A340-500/600 centre section top half, and absorption of the non-recurring costs of the Israel Aircraft Industries Galaxy business jet for which Sogerma is contracted to build the fuselage and empennage.
Cargo conversion of Airbus widebodies has replaced the dwindling work on the A300-600R Super Transporter, a fifth, and probably final, example of which is about to be ordered, reveals Puel. "We will make cargo conversions a major axis of our development," he adds, following the agreement with Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus in 1997 to convert FedEx A300B4s and A310s to cargo or combi configuration. A second production line will become operational in March, at Toulouse, beginning with conversion of a pair of A310-200s for FedEx.
Consolidated turnover for 1997 increased by 10%, to Fr3,770 million, against losses of Fr95 million. This was above the expected loss of Fr 66.7 million, which Puel says is because of restructuring costs and depreciation in share value of USgeneral and business aviation subsidiary Avsco, sold for $17 million during 1997.
Source: Flight International
