The European maintenance facilities of the Mubadala Aerospace MRO network are sold out for the next five years, says James Stewart, group CEO. “We do very little work on the spot market” at SR Technics’ facilities in Switzerland and Malta. “In the Middle East, we’re moving toward longer-range contracts because they’re a better deal for us and for our customers,” he says. He also thinks there is definitely overcapacity in the airframe MRO market, which is why SR Technics did not expand its hangars in Malta as originally planned.

Aviation regulators from the Persian Gulf states plan to meet Feb. 7-9 to brainstorm on how to harmonize regulations that apply to aircraft maintenance organizations (AMO). “The idea is to establish a multilateral acceptance and may even go to one approval, similar to EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency],” says Ahmed Salem Al Rawahi, director of airworthiness for the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

The civil unrest and political changes in Egypt have hurt Egyptair’s MRO business, especially base maintenance. Hisham Nasser, vice chairman and accountable manager of Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering, tells Aviation Week that the decline in business is due mainly to the fact that its parent airline, which generates 70-80% of its work, has posted reduced international traffic. In addition, “It has been difficult to attract new customers,” he says.

Unhappy with its outsourcing experience, the airline plans to set up its own airframe MRO unit and bring work back in-house. (Photo credit: Gulf Air)

AJ Walter Aviation has signed a seven-year, power by the hour support contract with Korean airline Eastar Jet. The agreement will cover the low cost carrier's fleet of six Boeing 737NG aircraft. The young airline, which launched in 2007, plans to operate a minimum of 16 aircraft by 2021.

SuperJet Intl. opened a new training center for Sukhoi Superjet 100 flight and technical staff in Zhukovsky, Russia, which is near Moscow. The training center offers the complete training cycle for flight and technician staff of the Sukhoi Superjet J100 customers and it has a range of advanced training equipment and simulators, including computer based training, flight a procedure training device, a flight training device, full flight simulators and a cabin emergency evacuation trainer. IT

BEIJING—The Chinese call it “daxing tumu,” being keen on large-scale construction. It seems that wherever one looks in this country someone is building a mighty new bridge, office tower, airport, freeway or aircraft hangar, more physical capital for the roaring economy.

Nordam has announced Albert Givray as its new general counsel, replacing Russel Wienecke. The appointment follows Wienecke's retirement after serving as the company's first general counsel from 2004 to 2011.