AMAC Aerospace will showcase its prowess at Ebace 2016

AMAC Aerospace of Switzerland will be showing off its unrivalled expertise in VIP completions, maintenance and repairs at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (Ebace) as it continues to build on a strong start to 2016.

Founded in 2007, the Basel-headquartered AMAC Aerospace today is the largest privately owned facility in the world offering narrow- and wide-body VIP completions and maintenance for the corporate and private aviation market.

AMAC Aerospace’s growth and expansion is spearheaded by Kadri Muhiddin, Group Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and an accomplished aviation expert with more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Bernd Schramm, Group Chief Operating Officer, and Mauro Grossi, Group Chief Financial Officer.

The first quarter of 2016 has seen AMAC win new contracts and a key maintenance approval while reaching a new milestone in its operations with the launch of a fourth hangar in Basel.

In April, AMAC Aerospace revealed it has expanded its maintenance approvals through the newly received Part 145 rating for the Airbus A310 series. This achievement allows AMAC  to further extend its maintenance portfolio as well as to demonstrate its expertise and outstanding experience in maintenance and cabin refurbishment work now also on A310 aircraft.

AMAC had received the Part 145 Maintenance Approval for the Airbus type A340-500/-600 only at the end of last year.

“This is a further step forward for the maintenance organisation within AMAC and we are proud to have received another Part 145 approval, this time for the Airbus A310 aircraft type. This will give us the opportunity to extend our range of services, particularly maintenance checks to A310 commercial, airline and VIP operators worldwide,” says Eric Hoegen, Sales and Key Account Manager.

Also in April, AMAC Aerospace successfully returned to service a privately owned B737-800 aircraft, which was handed to the facility in Basel, by an undisclosed customer for a heavy base maintenance check, which also included modifications.

Various cabin modifications have been carried out by AMAC as well as the installation of a new, tail-mounted external camera and the installation of new cabin monitors. With the successful replacement of HD (high-definition) monitors with 4K cabin monitors and the installation of a 4K-capable flight information system, AMAC says it has earned the distinction of becoming the first completions centre to instal 4K cabin monitors in an aircraft.

All modifications were performed during the scheduled maintenance input without any additional ground time to meet the customer’s operational requirements by minimising operational costs.

In March, AMAC won two maintenance contracts from Russian customers of the facility in Basel. Under the contracts, an Airbus A318 will be inducted for a major C-Check while a Boeing B737 NG will undergo an annual check at its facilities.

“We are happy to have been selected by our Russian customers for these two maintenance inputs once again, which shows our strong relationships with customers from all over the world through our continuous focus on our core competences,” says Alexis Ott, Senior Manager Sales and Key Account of AMAC Aerospace Switzerland.


CUSTOMER FORUM

AMAC Aerospace was also a sponsor of the Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) Customer Forum which took place from February 29 to March 2, in Lisbon, Portugal.

At the event, Schramm, Hoegen and Sales and Contract Manager Christine Delrieu, put the spotlight on AMAC’s pre-eminent standards of customer care and its high business aviation standards. Innovations were showcased at AMAC’s booth, where 3D printer prototypes were shown to offer an insight into AMAC’s comprehensive engineering capabilities.

“We are very proud to be part of the ACJ Customer Forum, which gives us the opportunity to show our expert service skills, latest technological developments and our high level of expertise in business aviation,” says Schramm.

Meanwhile, in February, AMAC Aerospace provided support in the launch of a new commercial operator in the industry and specifically in the Middle East region.

New registrations and livery applications combined with maintenance input on five different aircraft were successfully completed by AMAC. A Gulfstream G550, an Airbus A320, two Airbus A340 aircraft and a new Gulfstream G4, which was added to the fleet, were returned to service within a challenging ground time in order to minimise the operating costs.

The new commercial operator from the Middle East was highly appreciative of AMAC’s excellent responsiveness, dedication and positive attitude towards new challenges. AMAC Aerospace was selected by this new customer as it is always ready to go the extra mile, an AMAC spokesman said.

AMAC Aerospace started 2016 on a high note, opening its fourth hangar at EuroAirport in Basel, in January. 

The new hangar is designed to accommodate at least one wide-body aircraft along with two narrow-bodies. Unlike the existing three hangars, the fourth is purely dedicated to maintenance projects and wide-body aircraft. AMAC Aerospace dedicates one wide-body hangar to maintenance and two wide-body hangars to completions and refurbishment services.

These hangars together comfortably accommodate multiple narrow- and wide-body aircraft, Boeing B747s, B777s, B787s, Airbus A340s, A330s and can extend to service an A380. AMAC’s smaller hangar is designed to simultaneously accommodate a wide variety of aircraft combinations for maintenance work. For instance, two narrow-body aircraft, Boeing Business Jets and/or Airbus A318, A319, A320, A321 or Gulfstreams and selected Bombardier jets.

“Our brand new fourth 7,280-sq-m hangar is our maintenance centre for privately-owned and operated wide-body aircraft, serving our clients from around the world. We are proud to offer our esteemed clientele the chance to experience AMAC’s professionalism in handling these specially conceived aircraft, so notorious for demanding considerably more attention than standard airliners,” says Muhiddin.

Ebace will be held from May 24 to 26 at Geneva’s Palexpo conference centre in Switzerland, and AMAC Aerospace will be present at Booth H115.