Air France-KLM and Airbus are in “exclusive negotiations” with a view to establishing a joint venture for the global provision of equipment maintenance servicesAirbus A350announced the two partners.
The envisaged cooperation would take the form of a 50-50 joint venture between Air France and Airbus and would involve management of the supply chain, the transfer of certain aircraft equipment held by the two partners and the creation of a shared global stockpile of equipment.
This joint venture, combining the expertise of Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI&KLM) and Airbus, would enable “the establishment of an optimized commercial offer between, aiming to best meet the growing long-term maintenance needs of the global Airbus A350 fleet (more than 1,000 aircraft on order and 550 currently in service worldwide) through increased capacity, an expanded global presence and the development of innovative solutions, for the benefit of customers“, we can read in their press release.
The aim is for the joint venture to be operational as early as next year, in the first half of 2024, in accordance with all compliance requirements and subject to approval by all relevant authorities.
Anne Brachet, Deputy Managing Director of AFI&KLM, said: “This project aims to bring our customers the best of the expertise of our two companies on a product as technical as the A350. We will thus be able to better respond to market needs and guarantee long-term customer satisfaction, with particularly responsive, high-quality and fairly priced support solutions.“.
Cristina Aguilar, senior vice president Customer Services at Airbus, added: “Our job is to offer the best service to our customers. As the global A350 fleet grows, so do support requirements. Air France-KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Airbus have a long-standing relationship and pooling our skills and capabilities in A350 equipment will improve service for our customers.”
