GDC Technics acknowledges that a slowdown in the number of VIP aircraft completions has resulted in excess capacity in the market, but believes its ability to engineer and install increasingly complicated solutions puts it among a small handful of companies that are up to the job.
“There is a lot of hangar space out there but the question is, will you go to a qualified company that is able to do the sophisticated projects? This narrows the field drastically,” GDC Technics general partner Mohammed Alzeer tells Flight Evening News.
“I’m not downplaying the fact that the number of available projects is not as much as four or five years ago, but the nature of the work is becoming more complicated. Once you define capacity as people who are able to perform the work on new-generation aircraft and install and certify very complicated solutions, you find that capacity is much less than what you might see on the market.”
Alzeer gives as an example the installation of in-flight connectivity systems, which GDC has invested heavily in. “We’re investing $20 million in connectivity and we will be bringing solutions in the next eight months,” he says, adding that “90% of private aeroplanes fly with out-dated connectivity”.
The company announced during the show that it is making “excellent progress” on developing supplemental type certificates for the installation of Honeywell Aerospace’s JetWave Ka-band hardware on various Airbus and Boeing aircraft types. JetWave supports Inmarsat’s upcoming Jet ConneX business aviation satellite-based connectivity solution.
GDC still plans to open a facility in Morocco as part of its drive to be closer to customers and Alzeer says the company is “in the process of selecting the right location”. He expects to settle on a location “by the end of the year”, with construction expected to conclude 36 months later.
GDC is working on three widebody completions and will start work on a Boeing 787 early next year. Alzeer says it is in “final negotiations” on two additional widebodies, which are “coming in 2018”.
Source: Flight Daily News
