Mubadala MRO deal moving on apace

Muhammad Al-Lamadani, GE’s vice president regional sales for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe , said progress on matters involving the in-service fleet is already evident. “Many air show announcements seem to be made simply for the benefit of short-term publicity but in this case meetings between us began immediately post-Paris and we are already hard at work implementing the MRO arrangements involving CFM56, CF6 and GE90 engines. We’re very encouraged by the levels of co-operation with both Mubadala and its affiliates.”

The Paris announcement addressed one of the remaining components of a broader strategic partnership forged between the parties last year, which encompassed a range of activities including commercial finance and research into clean energy projects. Under the latest initiative, GE Aviation will provide technical support and services to Mubadala’s affiliate MRO companies, SR Technics and Abu Dhabi Aerospace Technologies (ADAT) including materials support, technical training and the granting of licenses to service certain GE engine types.

Mubadala Aerospace associate director Homaid Al Shemmari reiterated at Paris that part of their ambition was to build a global MRO network – a point which resonates with GE’s Al-Lamadani. “Our agreement includes terms to cover potential expansion and I think they are willing to make some sizeable investments in areas such as technology capability and tooling to fulfil their aims beyond the Gulf,” he said. “The future is an open question, but they already have a European foothold through their affiliation with SR Technics and I think, eventually, they may want to create other facilities in the Far East and America.”   

Key components of the latest development include the naming of ADAT as the world’s first MRO network provider for GEnx engines, covering  GEnx-1B and -2B powerplants operated in the Middle East and North Africa. The shop will be fully operational in 2013, supporting an expanding regional presence, including Etihad Airways, which has confirmed the choice of the GEnx engine to power its future fleet of 35 Boeing 787s. 

GE will also support ADAT in obtaining capability to carry out modular assembly and disassembly of Etihad’s fleet of 36 GE90-115Bs (current and on order) as well as designating ADAT as a member of its global network of on-wing support providers for the model. The Middle East has the highest global concentration of GE90s.

GE and CFM International will provide ADAT with technical and overhaul support for CFM56-5A/B/C and CF6-50/80C engines while, in the case of SR Technics, the same input will apply to CFM56-5B/C variants.

Both organisations will benefit from the sharing of best practice through GE Six Sigma initiatives; while GE and Mubadala also confirmed a 10-year OnPoint Solutions agreement to provide the respective MRO companies with new and used serviceable parts, and component and accessory repair for all the previously named engine types.

The Paris revelations followed hard on the heels of confirmation that GE and Mubadala were to establish an $8 billion finance company and to create the Abu Dhabi Leadership and Development Centre, which will form part of GE’s global learning network.

It seems unlikely that this will mark the limit of the co-operation. Muhammad Al-Lamadani describes Mubadala’s outlook as dynamic and ambitious. “They are determined to be successful in this sector and their management team has a visionary and futuristic outlook. I can’t predict what direction we may take, but a global agreement is already in place with GE corporate and when we identify potential opportunities they will be evaluated.”

Mubadala brings together and manages a multi-billion dollar portfolio of local, regional and international investments, projects and initiatives across a wide range of sectors, including energy and industry, healthcare, real estate and information communications. Its sole shareholder is the government of Abu Dhabi.

CAPTION

Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) is to acquire GE90 modular and on-wing support capability as part of the latest set of agreements between Mubadala and General Electric.