Etihad Airways has opened a new line maintenance base in Melbourne, Australia, to service its fleet and aircraft from third parties beginning 1 September.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline says that the line station will accommodate daily and weekly checks as well as scheduled engineering work as well as testing and repair to fix faults that technicians find on the aircraft during inspections. Three technicians and three engineers will oversee the operation.

Etihad has invested more than A$10 million ($10.5 million) in its Australian line maintenance operations since 2007 and will continue to train more technicians in the country, said the airline's chief executive James Hogan in a release. Etihad launched service to Sydney in 2007, where it then planted its first line maintenance station in Australia. The Melbourne line station will be Etihad's second in the country.

The new line maintenance facility is Etihad's seventh outside of its base in Abu Dhabi. The airline's line station network includes locations at Dublin, Lahore, London Heathrow, Manchester and Mumbai.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news