Gulf Air contracts APU Support for its incoming Boeing 787s to EPCOR

The long-term contract includes a guarantee covering APU replacement. The repair services will be provided by AFI KLM E&M subsidiary EPCOR, global market leader for MRO support for APUs.

Gulf Air will benefit from AFI KLM E&M exclusive predictive maintenance solution: PROGNOS for APU. Designed, built and marketed by EPCOR, this innovative offering was launched in September 2017. Just like its predecessors PROGNOS for Engine and PROGNOS for Aircraft, PROGNOS for APU uses Big Data technologies to monitor the performance of APUs and predict faults, ultimately helping to rationalize maintenance work and avoid shop visits and excess costs for client airlines, a major competitive advantage.

PROGNOS for APU is now the market-leading solution for APU predictive maintenance, monitoring more than 600 APUs around the world, including those of Gulf Air's 787.

This latest contract marks the renewal of Gulf Air's trust in the AFI KLM E&M network. The collaboration between the two companies started several years ago with the repair of Gulf Air's CFM56 engines and the airline currently uses AFI KLM E&M services for component support on its existing fleet of A320s and A330s, and those of its Dubai-based AMES subsidiary for nacelle and radome repairs. EPCOR, for its part, has provided APU support for the Bahraini carrier's Airbus A330s for a number of years.

Krešimir Kucko, Gulf Air chief executive officer, said: "EPCOR's proven TAT and service quality performance observed in the framework of our A330 APU contract convinced us to extend our partnership to this new type of APU and we are pleased to continue our relationship with them as we prepare to welcome new aircraft into our fleet."

EPCOR Managing Director, Martijn de Vries added: "Our leadership position for APU maintenance, repair and predictive solutions means we can guarantee unrivalled reliability and experience for our clients. The renewed trust Gulf Air has honoured us with is most definitely a bonus for our development in a region with fast-growing MRO requirements."