LEITHEN FRANCIS / SINGAPORE
Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) has clinched its first contract combining maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services with aircraft leasing.
The company has signed a one-year $10 million deal to wet-lease two Boeing 737-300s to Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Biman). The deal includes insurance, maintenance, crew training instructors and pilots.
Previously, ST Aero left aircraft leasing to its subsidiary ST Aviation Resources. "Now the customer has a single point of contact," says ST Aero senior vice-president engineering and materials services, Lim Serh Ghee. "If [Biman] engaged separate MRO, insurance, aircraft leasing companies and a firm to supply the pilots it would have taken a lot of time just to put all the initial agreements in place."
Lim adds that bundling services together allowed ST Aero to be able to offer a cost-effective package.
ST Aero has been working with Biman since 1993 and performs maintenance work on the carrier's McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
The airline plans to use the 737-300s on its Chittagong and Sylhet domestic routes as well as on international flights to Bangkok, Kolkata (Calcutta), Kathmandu and Yangon. The carrier previously used 85-seat Fokker F28s and a 221-seat Airbus A310-300 for the services.
Source: Flight International
