Cathay Pacific Airways has become the first customer for Satair Group’s Integrated Material Services for the Airbus A350XWB. The Hong Kong-based airline became the sixth operator of the aircraft at the end of May; it ordered a total of 48, including 22 -900s and 26 of the larger -1000s.
Satair Group (Hall 1 Stand B48) is a global aftermarket specialist with more than 1,000 employees, 10 locations worldwide and $1.3 billion in revenue. Its corporate vision is to become “the global market leader in the civil aircraft parts management business in 2017.” Although it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus Group it is in other respects a “100 percent standalone company”—and so has ambitions to bring Boeing types also into the IMS program, although it will focus on Airbus types initially.
Speaking with AIN on the eve of the airshow, Satair Group CEO Mikkel Bardram said, “Airbus Flight Hour Services takes care of the components and we do the consumables and expendables.” He said the industry has maintained for a long time that it would be more efficient for many airlines to trust such services to large specialists, “outsourcing from the beginning” when a new aircraft type joins their fleet. To that end, taking on Boeing aircraft would allow the company to do that with many airlines, even those with mixed fleets, in a “whole fleet solution.” Satair already supplies parts for other manufacturers, not just Airbus.
Bardram said that while the A380 and A320 might be next, for now he has “a long list” of customers interested in the A350 IMS program. “We’re already working on the concept for the A380 and A320, but the focus for now is on the first customer and making sure we don’t over-promise.”
Satair Group also signed an agreement earlier this month with Sitec Aerospace, extending its relationship with the German company. The extended worldwide spares distribution and repair pooling agreement includes the Airbus product range as well as providing repair and warranty administration services in the Asia Pacific region including China. There will be a repair exchange pool in Singapore.
