Kazakhstan's flag carrier, Air Astana, has selected Russian maintenance provider S7 Technics to conduct C-Checks on Airbus A320-family jets and Boeing 767s.

S7 Technics says that two aircraft have been completed under the five-year deal: the first was a 767 that was serviced at the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company's facility in Novosibirsk; three further checks are scheduled to take place before the summer.

Work under the contract – covering more than 40 base checks – will be shared between the MRO provider's sites in Mineralnye Vody and Novosibirsk.

S7 Technics says the contract is Air Astana's first base maintenance deal with a Russian MRO company, as the airline previously employed service providers in Asia and Europe to support its fleet.

Cirium's Fleets Analyzer shows that Air Astana has 16 A320-family jets – including a single A320neo and three A321neos – three 767-300ERs, five 757-200s, and 11 Embraer E-Jets, including two E190-E2s.

The carrier has ordered a further five A320neos, eight A321neos – including four long-range versions – three E190-E2s, and three 787-8s.

Air Astana A320

S7 Technics

Igor Panshin, deputy general director for marketing and sales at S7 Technics, says the contract with Air Astana is "proof that the level of continued airworthiness services for Western-built airliners in Russia has improved significantly".

The Moscow-based company specialises in the support of Airbus, Boeing, Cessna, and Embraer types, along with Sukhoi Superjets.

In 2018, Air Astana opened a hangar at Astana's Nursultan Nazarbayev airport to conduct light checks for its fleet, adding to its existing maintenance facility in Almaty.

At that time, the carrier told FlightGlobal it intended to establish C-check capability with an MRO partner and offer the service to third-party customers.

Source: FlightGlobal.com

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