US MRO provider Sabreliner Aviation is making its foray in to aircraft remanufacturing and hopes to launch its first programme next year.
Speaking at NBAA yesterday, Sabreliner president Greg Fedele said: “We have everything in place to make this new venture work - the experience, skills, facility, the necessary approvals and the backing of our owner [Innovative Capital Holdings]. The business case has been made and verified. We are ready to go.”
The Perryville, Missouri-based company is looking at a range of aircraft types - single-engined turboprops, light, medium and large-cabin business jets with a view to eventually offering a family of aircraft.
Sabreliner will purchase the aircraft, which will then be overhauled at its facility and given new engines, avionics and an interior. “We will then sell the upgraded model,” says Fedele. “For those customers who don’t want a completely overhauled aircraft, we will just provide a refurbished version with a new interior and repainted exterior,” he adds.
Sabreliner will not disclose which aircraft types it is evaluating, but Fedele has ruled out offering remanufactured versions of the Beechcraft/Hawker 400A/XP light business jet and King Air C90 twin-engined turboprop. “These platforms are already part of the Nextant Aerospace stable [with the 400XTi and G90XT]. It doesn’t make any sense to compete with them,” he says.
“There is a lot to consider,” he says. “With a large-cabin aircraft, the returns are higher but the available fleet is small. In contrast, the available inventory of smaller aircraft is high but the returns aren’t as great.”
Source: FlightGlobal.com
