EASA has granted Vemina Aviaprestige, a Moscow-based cabin completions centre for business and VIP aircraft, Part 145 approval to provide interior equipment MRO services for Western-built aircraft, including passenger jets.
The company wants to expand its business to also support regular passenger airlines and has opened an MRO facility at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, close to Aeroflot's technical base. The firm has also applied for EASA Part 21 certification to be able to offer parts production in the future.
Aeroflot became a customer for cabin interior maintenance for Airbus A320-family and Boeing 767 aircraft in late 2009 and thus helped Vermina to enter the airline MRO market. Several other Moscow-based airlines, including the no-frills carrier SkyExpress, have indicated their interest in using the company's services.
Vitaly Romanyuk, Vemina's general director, believes that local MRO companies can outperform their European competitors in the Russian market and potentially create several thousand new jobs in the process. "Russia must act [in a way] to enlarge its presence on this high-tech market and create well-paid jobs in this country. We expect the government to take action, support development of high-tech MRO centres and encourage airlines to service their planes in the territory of the Russian Federation," he says.
Approximately 60% of Russia's MRO market for imported jet-powered aircraft is controlled by 10 foreign-based maintenance providers. Local MRO companies have estimated that they lose around $1.5bn in annual income as a result.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
