SriLankan engineers on Emirates maintenance work
MAINTENANCE: SriLankan Engineering, the technical arm of
SriLankan Airlines, achieved a major milestone in the country’s aviation
history when it carried out a Major Maintenance Check on an Airbus
A330-200 aircraft of Emirates Airline.
Peter Hill, CEO, said: “Our strategy is for SriLankan Engineering to
provide maintenance services to airlines throughout Asia and beyond. Our
aim is to develop this into a significant stream of additional revenue
for the company, as well as being a major foreign exchange earner for
the country.”
Engineers working on an Emirates aircraft.
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The project, named a 4C5Y Maintenance Check, was awarded to SriLankan
ahead of competition from several other reputed aircraft maintenance
organisations. It was the first ever-Major Maintenance Check by
SriLankan on another airline’s aircraft. The 4C5Y is an important
maintenance programme that is carried out every five years, and is
therefore of considerable importance for any aircraft.
SriLankan further proved its efficiency and professionalism by
completing the project a day ahead of the scheduled 24 days. “We are
confident that this will be the first of many more such projects from a
number of customer airlines,” said Capt. Dick Hutton, Chief Technical
Officer. “We are presently in discussions with several carriers
including those in India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, offering our
expertise in many types of maintenance activities.”
SriLankan has in recent times invested heavily in the infrastructure
of its engineering facilities at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International
Airport”, he said.
“Emirates is one of the largest and most reputed airlines in the
world, and we can now go to the market with an important addition to our
track record,” said Senior Manager Aircraft Maintenance Ian Dunning.
The Maintenance Check on the Emirates aircraft also involved a large
number of major modifications that were carried out simultaneously by
SriLankan Engineering, which accounted for about 50% of the time spent
on the project.
The 4C5Y Check involved every aspect of the aircraft - airframe,
avionics, engines, cabins, and painting.
SriLankan Engineering moved into the Third Party Maintenance market
after carrying out the first ever in-house 4C5Y Check on a SriLankan
Airbus A340 last November, followed by a second one in March, both of
which were also completed ahead of schedule.
SriLankan Engineering is especially skilled in providing services to
Airbus aircraft, which the airline has operated for more than 15 years. |