While it has been a year of steady flow of aircraft into its hangars, the month of June saw the inauguration of AMAC Aerospace’s wide body hangar in Milas-Bodrum, Turkey.

The new 4,626-sq-m hangar will serve AMAC Aerospace’s maintenance services in the Middle and Far East. 

“We are aiming to turn Muğla into an aircraft maintenance base in the region. Our goal is to bring private and passenger planes here,” said Kadri Muhiddin, Group Executive Chairman and CEO of AMAC Aerospace.

AMAC Aerospace is using a mixed business model for this hangar facility where during the winter months, the hangar carries out commercial line and base maintenance and during the summer months, the MRO services flip over to VIP business maintenance. The new hangar can also be used while aircraft owners spend their holidays at the Turkish Rivira and in the meantime, the maintenance on their private jet can be performed.

 “Thanks to AMAC Aerospace Turkey, private jet owners in the Middle East will not have to go to Europe for the maintenance of their jets. We will be able to carry out the maintenance for all aircraft – from small sized jets to wide-body aircraft. We want Turkey and Muğla to become a regional hub for aircraft maintenance,” said Muhiddin.

Meanwhile, one of AMAC’s VIP completion projects, the BBJ Demonstrator, has won a Design Et Al Award in the ‘2018 Interior Design/VIP Completion’ category.

The prestigious BBJ Demonstrator Project that AMAC returned to service to its esteemed customer, Boeing Business Jets, in May 2017, is distinguished by a variety of bespoke furniture, a fine selection of interior materials, a consistent colour design scheme, the latest technical equipment and a bespoke cabin layout.

The BBJ Demonstrator is the third demonstration aircraft Boeing Business Jets has built and was conceived to be both a functional corporate transport and an extrordinary showpiece. The aircraft is configured to accommodate up to 13x PAX in a private, working environment but at the same time showing off the expansive cabin space devised by the designer, Unique Aircraft, to offer high levels of comfort during long flights.

In collaboration with JCB Aero, AMAC Aerospace’s subsidiary, floor lamps were produced and installed, which are rarely to be found in a VIP aircraft. These lamps provide a relaxing diffused light source to passengers at seated shoulder height. Sidewall panels, air ducting and ceiling dropdown were constructed and installed by AMAC Aerospace to maximise cabin space. A clean aesthetic look and at the same time a cabin layout that makes functional sense are the key characteristics of the BBJ Demonstrator Project.

“We are delighted to see this award as being a great appreciation from everyone who voted for the BBJ Demonstrator in its category for our VIP Completion work, that we could realise thanks to the trust of Boeing and the design work of Unique Aircraft,” said Waleed Muhiddin, AMAC Aerospace’s Vice President Strategic Operations & Business Development.

AMAC also successfully participated in the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE).

It displayed the in-house developed Cocoon seat, the lightweight cabinets as well as JCB Aero’s lightweight honeycomb production at the show.

“EBACE was another successful show for AMAC where we have been exhibiting for 10 years. We had some very encouraging conversations/discussions and met a variety of people. From the broad set of announcements that we delivered and off the back of hard work, we thank the show organisers, our esteemed and potential clients who came to visit us and all our colleagues that joined us to make an exceptional show in Geneva for 2018. We look forward to hard-graft over the next 12 months and hope to see everyone again in May, 2019,” said Waleed.

In recent months, several new maintenance contracts for small-sized, narrow-body and wide-body aircraft have been awarded to AMAC Aerospace.

In October, a privately-owned ACJ320 was to undergo a major maintenance input in Basel combined with a connectivity installation. AMAC was to install a Honeywell Jetwave Ka Band System to provide broadband and connectivity services to all passengers. In addition an IFE (in-flight entertainment) system will be upgraded to provide wireless streaming AVOD (audio, video on demand) for passengers’ personal electronic devices like their phones/tablets.

AMAC Aerospace also opened its hangar doors for several maintenance checks in October. A Gulfstream G550 was to undergo an annual maintenance check. A base maintenance check was also to be carried out on an Airbus A319, an Airbus A318 and a Boeing B737.

“We are delighted to see the high demand on maintenance checks at AMAC Aerospace. Our maintenance teams are working efficiently to satisfy our customers’ needs and to deliver the aircraft on time,” said Alexis Ott, Director Maintenance Sales and Key Account Management.

Meanwhile, AMAC has signed a new contract for a 24-month inspection on an Airbus A330 in Basel.