Iberia and ST Aerospace commemorated the official opening of Madrid Aerospace Services (MAeS), a company created jointly for the maintenance and repair of landing gears for Airbus A320, A330, and A340. Since it started operations in September 2008, MAeS has completed and delivered ten landing gears to date, and has also received its first set of landing gears from its first external airline customer, SriLankan Airlines. Target completion of the landing gear maintenance work for SriLankan Airlines is July 2009.
MAeS will complement the services currently offered by Iberia Maintenance and ST Aerospace to operators of the Airbus aircraft. In this project, ST Aerospace provides its extensive experience in the overhaul and repair of landing gear on commercial and military aircraft and access to a broad customer base while Iberia will assist with the training of local technicians to perform the maintenance on aircraft components and provide other technical support.
"The creation of Madrid Aerospace Service represents a major breakthrough in our growth strategy, which will allow us to open new markets in Europe, Africa, and Middle East, with the advantage of a complementary product to our core activities of aircraft maintenance," says Manuel Lopez Aguilar, General Director of Iberia Maintenance and Engineering.
"MAeS has progressed significantly from initial set up to commencement of operations, all within the same year," says Tay Kok Khiang, President, ST Aerospace. "Its remarkable progress is testament to the successful partnership between Iberia and ST Aerospace. As MAeS further develops its capabilities and capacities, it will play an increasingly important role in ST Aerospace's global network offering integrated component services to customers worldwide."
The company formed jointly by Iberia and ST Aerospace operates as an independent third party MRO service provider. Located in the town of Torrejon de Ardoz in Madrid, near Madrid's Barajas Airport and Iberia maintenance facilities in La Muñoza, MAeS expects to employ about 100 skilled technicians at full capacity. It will provide maintenance services for IBERIA Airlines and other customers around the world, and will complement ST Aerospace's Total Aviation Support and IBERIA Maintenance’s offerings for Airbus operators. Its initial focus is to provide repair and overhaul for Airbus A320, A330 and A340 landing gears. The initial set-up is with three lines – two lines for A320 and one line for A330/A340, and this will eventually be grown to six lines or more, as the market demands.
