SR Technics, the maintenance company that oversees the easyJet aircraft fleet, is to close operations at Stansted Airport, throwing 345 aviation engineers out of work, the Times reports. The company, which is controlled by the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi Government, has told workers that it is selling the lease at the airport and moving the operation to its Zurich headquarters.
The company is currently the largest maintenance, repair and overhaul operation at Stansted. Its decision to close its Stansted base came quickly after an agreement with easyJet over cost-cutting plans. The budget airline negotiated much tougher terms in an 11-year £1 billion agreement that will see it cut maintenance costs by £175 million over its life, or about £17 million a year.
All of easyJet’s aircraft maintenance across its 180-strong fleet will be moved to a new operation in Malta. The changes mean that SR Technics will keep only a line maintenance operation at Stansted, performing statutory pre-flight checks on aircraft.
I hope better technique will be adopted by Stansted authority in the future.
Airport parking Stansted