Madrid Aerospace Service Company Founded

June 30, 2008 - The landing gear maintenance company Madrid Aerospace Services, S.L., was founded today with a start-up capital of 2,576,000 euros. It is a 50:50 joint venture between Iberia LAE, S.A. via its subsidiary Iberia Tecnologia S.A., and Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd. (ST Aerospace).

Madrid Aerospace Service, based in Madrid, will maintain landing gear assemblies of Airbus A-320, A-330 and A-340 aircraft, thus broadening the Airbus aircraft maintenance services already supplied by Iberia's maintenance division and ST Aerospace to Airbus operators.

Iberia Maintenance has maintained aircraft for 80 years. In addition to Iberia itself, the division serves more than 100 outside customers, as the world's ninth-largest maintenance company and the largest in Southern Europe. In 2007 it carried out 1,273 aircraft inspections, including 1,002 A checks, 244 C checks and 27 D checks. It also performed maintenance tasks on 145 aircraft engines, 34 auxiliary power units (APU), and 68,083 components. The division is now poised to double its revenues from outside clients under Iberia's 2006-2008 strategic plan. This new joint venture reflects the division's strategy in recent years of winning new customers while increasing specialization in high value-added tasks such as landing gear maintenance.

ST Aerospace is the aircraft unit of ST Engineering, the world's largest aircraft maintenance firm with facilities in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Its customers include some of the world's leading airlines and air freight operator, and it also maintains military aircraft. ST Aerospace supplies full maintenance and modification services, working on airframes, engiens, and components. It employs 7,000 engineers and technicians around the world.

Iberia today is Spain's largest airline and also market leader on flights between Europe and Latin America. In 2007 it posted operating earnings of 5,522 million euros, with net earnings of 327.6 million euros and an Ebitdar of 932 million euros. Iberia is also outstanding for its commitment to social, economic, and environmental causes. Along with its franchise partner Iberia Regional, it operates some 1,000 flights every day to about 100 destinations. In 2007 Iberia carried 32.5 million passengers. It is a member of the oneworld alliance along with American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, JAL, LAN, Malev, Qantas and Royal Jordanian.