British Airways has selected its subsidiary BAAE to undertake avionics maintenance of its Airbus fleet. The airline has orders and options on 188 single-aisle A320 family aircraft. Subject to raising the required investment funding, BAAE will undertake the maintenance at its South Wales facility for the next 10 years. Sextant Avionique, the preferred avionics supplier on the A320, has also appointed BAAE as the authorised Sextant service centre in the UK. Boeing is to convert two Korean Air Boeing MD-11s to freighters. The conversions, which will be conducted at Boeing's modification centre at the former Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, will be managed by Boeing Airplane Services. AlliedSignal will provide maintenance and overhaul service for its auxiliary power units (APUs) in the Swissair and Sabena fleets and third-party fleets under SR Technics/Sabena Technics service agreements. The five-year contract, covering 173 APUs, is valued at $30 million. WestJet and Conair have signed a five-year agreement under which Conair will provide the Calgary-based airline with heavy maintenance and engineering support for its Boeing 737s. Conair, based at Abbotsford airport in western Canada, has been providing maintenance services to WestJet for more than a year. Qantas is to invest A$30 million ($20 million) developing its maintenance operations at Avalon airport near Melbourne. The expansion will cater for the overflow from the company's base in Sydney and give the airline capacity for additional third party work. Virgin Sun, the new European short-haul holiday airline established by Virgin Holidays, has selected FLS Aerospace to undertake maintenance on its Airbus Industrie A320 fleet. The contract will run for five years. AirLiance, the company that was established by United Airlines, Lufthansa Technik and Air Canada, has become the exclusive supplier of surplus parts to its partner airlines.
Source: Flight International
