Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, has announced a 3-year extension of its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) agreement with JorAMCo under which JorAMCo will provide Bahrain’s national carrier with Heavy Maintenance checks for its current fleet of 28 aircraft – A330s, A320-ERs, A320s and A321s. The agreement, originally signed in January 2013, has been extended for three more years, ending 31st December 2018. All maintenance will be performed in JorAMCo’s regional MRO facility at Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan.
Announcing the agreement extension at a signing ceremony today, Gulf Air A/Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Jamal Hashim, said: “JorAMCo have delivered high quality technical support to Gulf Air over the past three years. Their vast experience, quality service and regional proximity ensure that Gulf Air’s aircraft are maintained to the highest standard, with decreased turnaround time and reduced ferry charges. Consequently, we are confident that this extension will greatly help us in our continued pursuit to enhance our technical quality, efficiency and safety standard while the airline, in tandem, continues its drive to independently deliver technical excellence in aircraft maintenance.”
Mr. Husam Zayed, Chief Commercial Officer of JorAMCo, said, “We are delighted that Gulf Air, a regional aviation pioneer, is extending its relationship with JorAMCo. With over 50-years’ experience in servicing a wide range of aircraft, Gulf Air is assured of high quality value solutions, superior maintenance services and on-time delivery.”
Gulf Air’s Technical Division also performs its own aircraft maintenance, up to and including A-checks and C-checks utilizing all the engineering resources available locally in Bahrain and in line with the airline’s ongoing efforts to streamline its operations for greater efficiency and cost reduction. The airline also fully manages its Continued Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) functions which include engineering support services, aircraft systems and propulsion engineering, technical planning, airworthiness review and maintenance of fleet technical records.
Today’s announcement follows news of Gulf Air’s restructured aircraft orders, comprising 45 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus in deals worth a combined total of USD7.6 billion. The orders consist of 16 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, 17 Airbus A321neo and 12 Airbus A320neo aircraft and provide Gulf Air with the requisite expansion capabilities for the airline’s extensively studied future network requirements, ensures it maintains one of the youngest fleets in the region while building upon its award-winning reliability and on time performance.
JorAMCo, a Jordanian based MRO facility, is a dynamic aircraft maintenance center that specializes in aircraft airframe services, components repair and overhaul for Airbus, Embraer and Boeing products. The EASA and FAA-approved MRO provides several regional and international operators with high quality efficient and competitive services and programs that include: heavy-base maintenance, technical support, shop and engineering.