SpiceJet, India’s most preferred low fare airline and MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, sealed a 3-year maintenance support agreement for SpiceJet’s fleet of Boeing 737 New Generation (NG) series aircraft.
With this, SpiceJet’s current fleet of 19 aircraft and future aircraft will be sent to MAE for “C” and heavy checks from 2010 until 2013. SpiceJet will be adding 12 more B737 NG aircraft to its fleet over the next 2 years to build a fleet of 31 aircraft.
SpiceJet’s Vice President Engineering/Maintenance, Mr. Robert Bryant sealed the agreement with MAS General Manager, Engineering & Maintenance, Mr Tan Wee Liam. The ceremony was witnessed by SpiceJet’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sanjay Aggarwal and MAE’s Managing Director, En Mohd Roslan Ismail.
With this, SpiceJet becomes one of the first launch customer airlines of MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering Company Ltd; a 50:50 joint venture company between MAE and of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. to provide Airframe MRO services in Hyderabad. The facility will have the capacity to service between 60-80 aircraft annually.
SpiceJet’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sanjay Aggarwal said, “We are happy to be one of the first customers of the partnership between MAS Aerospace Engineering and GMR Aerospace and look forward to our association. We are confident that their expertise, experience and professional support will ensure that SpiceJet remains the best airline in the low fare space in the Indian skies.”
“SpiceJet’s aircraft will first be serviced in Subang. Once our MRO JV Company, MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering in Hyderabad, India commences operation by first quarter of 2011, the aircraft will be serviced on the subcontinent allowing SpiceJet to enjoy even more cost savings and reduced downtime for each aircraft. On an average, the downtime for an aircraft leaving Indian shores for maintenance is between 4 and 10 days. We are delighted with SpiceJet’s confidence in our Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services. As a low cost carrier, SpiceJet values partners who can provide the best value services. With over 36 years of MRO experience, skilled resources, readily available infrastructure, flexibility in meeting customers’ requirements and highly competitive pricing, MAE fits the bill.” Roslan said.
Note to Editors:
Aircraft "C" checks are where virtually the entire aircraft goes through a series of checks, inspections and overhaul work. This check will take approximately 5 to 6 days to complete. Heavy checks is a “D” check where major modifications and overhaul to carry out. This may take up to a month.
About SpiceJet Ltd:
SpiceJet (www.spicejet.com) is India's most preferred Low Fare Airline, with 13% market share, delivering the lowest air fares with the highest consumer value. We operate 129 flights daily to 18 cities viz. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Goa, Hyderabad, Jammu, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam. Our on-time performance is amongst the best in India and coupled with a Technical Dispatch Reliability of 99.6%, making us an airline with least cancellations. SpiceJet's new generation fleet of 19 Boeing 737-800 / 737-900ER aircraft are backed by cutting edge technology and infrastructure to ensure the highest standards in safety and operating efficiency.
SpiceJet is the winner of:
- Best low-fare airline in a survey conducted by MaRS on behalf of Hindustan Times (December 2009).
- Employer Branding Institutes’ Best Employer Brand Award for our employee best practices(December 2009) Hyderabad
- World Travel Market Award for multi-channel approach in distribution(November 2009)London
- Smart Travel Asia’s Top 10 Best Budget Airlines in Asia for two consecutive years (Aug 2008 & Sept 2009) Hong Kong
- National Award (ICWAI) for excellence in Cost Management (March 2009), New Delhi
- CIO 100 Award for IT efforts for customer satisfaction and business growth(2007, 2008 & 2009) India
- 2008 Frost & Sullivan Indian Commercial Aviation Emerging Company of the Year Award (Nov 2008) London
- Outlook Traveler’s Best Low Cost Airline (Feb 2008) India
- TAFI – Abacus’s Best Low Cost Airline (Sept 2007) Malaysia
Read SpiceJet Testimonials @ - http://spicejet.com/testimonial.asp
About MAE:
MAE started as Malaysia Airlines’ E&M Division in 1972 and has over 36 years of experience in the Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) business.
It is amongst the leading MROs and one of the biggest in South East Asia, with strong technical and engineering capabilities. It is a certified MRO organization by 31 National Aviation Authorities including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), India’s Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, amongst others.
With advanced heavy maintenance facilities and six fully equipped hangars in KL International Airport and its head office in Subang, it manages Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft fleet that includes B747-400, B777-200, A330-200/300, and B737-400. It also provides MRO support for the ATR-72, Fokker 50 and Twin Otter aircraft in its subsidiaries, MASwings and Firefly.
Among the many services provided are A,B,C,D checks on F50, B737 Classic and Next-Generation, B747 series, A330, A320 families and B777; engineering services including quality assurance, technical services, engineering planning, production planning, aircraft projects, technical training and major aircraft modification.
These skilled competencies which are certified by aviation authorities not only raise Malaysia Airlines’ visibility as a preferred MRO that offers an array of integrated specialized engineering services but also attract the influx of foreign investment into Malaysia and helps to create a specialized aviation workforce among Malaysians.
Jointly issued by: Malaysia Airlines & SpiceJet
