US maintenance, repair and overhaul company StandardAero is bolstering its Honeywell HTF7000 engine support capabilities in Europe, in anticipation of a rise in work as more aircraft powered by the turbofan family enter service across the region.
StandardAero’s sole European service centre, in the southeast Netherlands city of Tilburg, secured European Aviation Safety Agency and US Federal Aviation Administration approval in April to provide full MRO services on the HTF7000-series. The facility had previously provided only minor and line maintenance services on the engine.
The validations came a year after the company's US facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, became the industry’s only independent Honeywell-authorised HTF7000 heavy maintenance operation.
Bombardier
Gerard Janssen, general manager of the Tilburg service centre, says more than 700 business jets are currently powered by the HTF7000, including the Bombardier Challenger 300/350, Embraer Legacy 450/500 and Gulfstream G280, as well as the Cessna Citation Longitude, which is scheduled to enter service next year. Of these, nearly 110 are based in Europe, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.
The company – which includes the Dallas-based Associated Air Center brand in large business jet completions – plans to more than double its six-strong tally of qualified inspectors and technicians in Tilburg by the end of the year, Janssen says. This will enable it to keep pace with the anticipated demand for its MRO services.
Source: Flight International
