Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) maintenance arm and Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) have signed a 10-year contract to provide component support for MAS' fleet of 35 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The programme, which is operated in partnership with Boeing, also covers the airline's 20 737 options.

Under the contract, AFI KLM E&M will create a component spares pool in MAS Engineering & Maintenance's (MAS E&M) facility to support the airline's 737-800s.

Simultaneously, a regional component pool will be set up in Kuala Lumpur to provide services to MAS and other customers.

The two pools will have access to AFI KLM E&M's main component pool in Amsterdam, offering procurement of essential spares while reducing inventory and repair costs.

The regional pool will start servicing 35 737-800s from customer airlines in the Asia Pacific region, says MAS. The component pool will grow collectively with the increase of 737-800s in the region.

"While the home-based pool provides us immediate access to parts for our daily operations, the regional pool will give us the advantage of having over $15 million worth of parts at our doorstep," says MAS E&M's executive VP, Mohd Roslan Ismail.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news