Airbus selects Sabena technics for the base maintenance of its Beluga fleet

Sabena technics, a leading independent MRO provider, won a long term contract for the base maintenance of Airbus’s Beluga fleet.

Airbus has selected Sabena technics for a five-year maintenance agreement for the performance of C-checks on its A300-600ST Beluga fleet. The work will be performed at Sabena technics facility in Bordeaux, France which has five separate hangar positions large enough to accommodate the Beluga aircraft.

The fleet of five Beluga aircraft is operated by Airbus Transport International (ATI), a division dedicated to the logistics between Airbus’ and its partners’ European production sites. The outsourcing of the Beluga base maintenance is part of ATI’s “Fly 10000” project which aims at increasing aircraft availability and doubling the annual flying hours of the fleet before 2017. ATI’s own maintenance division will still ensure light maintenance at the main base and in the outstations.

“With the output of Airbus’ Final Assembly Lines growing steadily, ATI was looking for a maintenance partner able to offer flexibility in slots allocation, expertise in A300 maintenance and a high level of professionalism at a competitive cost. We are proud to have been selected for this challenging project,” commented Rodolphe Marchais, Chairman and CEO of Sabena technics.

Following this contract, Sabena technics will acquire EASA Part 145 base maintenance capability on the Beluga. In a separate contract award, Sabena technics training was selected by ATI to develop maintenance training courses on the Beluga.