“swiss” signs aircraft maintenance deal
Switzerland's new airline "swiss" has announced that it has signed a deal with SR Technics to maintain 52 aircraft.
The deal is one of the final preparation steps before swiss begins flying operations formally on Monday.
A swiss statement from Basel said the deal with SR Technics – a part of the collapsed Swissair Group – would last for seven years and cover the Boeing MD-11, Airbus A330 and Airbus A320 families.
SR Technics will service the swiss aircraft in the form of a “Total Maintenance Contract”, which means that it will be responsible for the entire technical work on airframes, components and engines.
Hard negotiations
Swiss said that the deal was based on prevailing conditions in the aircraft maintenance market and was made after “hard and fair” negotiations.
“We have total confidence in SR Technics, which has always kept the fleet at the highest technical level with its large know-how,” said Jorgen Orstam, head of swiss’s technical division.
“The long-term contract will assure this also in the future,” he added.
The chief executive of SR Technics, Hans Ulrich Beyeler, described the deal as an “important building block” for the company’s current negotiations with possible investors.
Maintenance of swiss aircraft abroad will be carried out by the new airline itself with the support of SR Technics.
The maintenance of the current fleet of Crossair, which forms the backbone of the new company, will be carried out as before at the EuroAirport facilities in Basel.
swissinfo with agencies
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