Sanad Aerotech, a leading maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider for aero engines and industrial gas turbines that is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, is increasing its global footprint with expansion into Eastern Europe.

Expanding its network of international customers, the Abu Dhabi-based business has announced signing two maintenance agreements with Russian Nordwind and Bulgarian BH Air, two leading Eastern European operators.

The breakthrough partnership agreements come after Sanad Aerotech and Rolls-Royce announced a landmark $6.5 billion engine maintenance agreement including component repair to operators globally over a nine-year period and signify Sanad Aerotech’s collaboration with leading operators in Eastern Europe for the first time.

Janahi: major milestone achieved

Nordwind is Russia’s eighth largest operator, flying scheduled and chartered flight to 85 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. This agreement sees Sanad Aerotech overhauling up to 14 IAE V2500 engines from now until 2022 – and is the Abu Dhabi-MRO’s first and only such agreement for V2500 engines with a Russian operator.

The Bulgarian charter airline BH Air primarily operates flights between northern and western Europe and Bulgaria. Sanad Aerotech will overhaul 5 IAE V2500 engines for the operator throughout 2019.

Sanad Aerotech CEO, Mansoor Janahi said: “We’re thrilled to increase our global footprint into the Eastern European region, expanding our work with leading operators with solid growth projections. These deals represent confidence in our quality, reliability and globally competitive services that we offer from Abu Dhabi.”

ROLLYS-ROYCE CONTRACT

Meanwhile, the landmark agreement with Rolls-Royce will see Sanad Aerotech provide complete overhaul services for Trent 700 engines, that power the Airbus SE A330 jetliner, said a statement from the company.

Sanad Aerotech will, under this agreement, more than triple the number of Trent 700 engines it services annually –from the current 22 to 75. This represents 25 per cent of the global Trent 700 engine maintenance conducted annually, which will cement the company’s global position as the leading Trent 700 MRO service provider, it said.

Officials at the agreement signing ceremony

Janahi said: “For our company, as a fully independent MRO with complete Trent 700 capabilities, becoming a Rolls-Royce Authorised Maintenance Centre (AMC) is a major milestone in our three-decades-long legacy in Abu Dhabi.”

“The magnitude of this agreement will benefit the UAE economy greatly over the coming nine years and reinforce Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading global aerospace hub,” he said.

The Abu Dhabi-based MRO has overhauled over 90 Trent 700 engines to date. With this new agreement, this number will increase to more than 600 over the contract period. To meet the increased load, the MRO is growing its workforce by more than 40 per cent to almost 500 aircraft engineers and technicians.

Janahi added: “This agreement involves an upscaling of our capacities for Trent 700, benefiting both Rolls-Royce and other existing customers through access to world-class capabilities and a highly-skilled multinational workforce that overhaul engines to the highest quality.”

“This landmark agreement also introduces healthy competition into the overhaul marketplace and is testament to our track record of quality, safety and timely delivery which Sanad Aerotech has consistently demonstrated since 2013 when we first started the overhaul of Trent 700 engines,” he concluded.

The addition of Sanad Aerotech supports the growth of Rolls-Royce’s maintenance capacity and also supports its wider services strategy to develop an increasingly capable, competitive and flexible CareNetwork, it added.

The Trent 700 currently powers more than 800 Airbus A330s, flying with 83 operators worldwide.

Dominic Horwood, chief customer officer – civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said: “It’s great to welcome Sanad Aerotech to our Global CareNetwork.”

“As our family of Trent engines continues to grow, we are expanding our services network and continually reducing engine maintenance turnaround times, so airlines can keep passengers flying,” he said.

“Sanad Aerotech has a proven track record in working with the Trent 700, and will be a valuable addition to our network,” he added.

Sanad Aerotech, which will boost its workforce by more than 40 per cent to almost 500 engineers and technicians, currently services about 100 engines annually, including the Trent 700, according Janahi.

Other turbine types maintained are General Electric Co’s GEnx, which powers Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner, and the International Aero Engines V2500, used on Airbus A320-series jets.

Sanad Aerotech is an independent service provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for IAE customers around the world, providing its services to more than 300 V2500 engines since 2014 with year on year growth of over 20 per cent. The V2500 engine on the popular Airbus A320 aircraft has sold over 7,000 engines worldwide and is in service with leading airlines in every corner of the globe.

Sanad Aerotech has grown exponentially over the past five years, doubling its operations three times and providing services directly to over 10 international customers as well as supporting IAE in its delivery of long-term engine maintenance contracts.

NEW IDENTITY

The company’s new identity also marks an important milestone in the company’s development, building on three decades of experience in the aviation industry and positioning it for the future with a focus on engineering excellence underpinned by industry-leading reliability, innovation and technology.

Earlier known as Turbine Services & Solutions (TS&S), Mubadala Aerospace recently unveiled a new identity for its MRO business. 

Now known as Sanad Aerotech, the new identity marks an important moment in the company’s development, building on three decades of experience in the aviation industry.  The new brand positioning reflects Mubadala Aerospace’s focus on engineering excellence, underpinned by industry-leading reliability, innovation and technology.

The Sanad Aerotech entity continues as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, and Mansoor Janahi continues as its chief executive.

Badr Al Olama, executive director Mubadala Aerospace & Defense, commented: “Over the last three decades we have built a world class, globally integrated aerospace MRO in Abu Dhabi. Stretching back to Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies and its predecessor Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (GAMCO), the new Sanad Aerotech brand builds on a track record of technical excellence and delivery that has put Abu Dhabi on the global aerospace map. It marks an important point in the evolution of the business that will support customers in navigating the complex choices they face. This strategic new identity will reflect a new milestone whereby technology and innovation will be at the forefront of our MRO business.”

Janahi said: “The Arabic meaning of sanad is support and this is at the heart of our relationship with our customers. At Sanad Aerotech we understand that excellence is in the detail. In an era when digital innovation is affecting every aspect of our customers’ business, we wanted an identity that reinforced the importance we place in precision and quality and appealed to our technology and engineering heritage.”