By Brendan Sobie in London
Snecma Services is preparing to more than double its CFM International CFM56 engine maintenance capacity by opening new facilities in India, Mexico and Russia.
Vice-president of customer operations Pierre-Emmanuel Gires says an agreement to open a joint venture facility in Queretaro, Mexico with Mexicana was finalised last month, while talks with prospective Russian partners Aeroflot and NPO Saturn are at an early stage.
In India, Gires says Snecma is just starting to explore with potential airline partners how to approach opening a CFM56 service centre.
"We'll probably open one in Mexico and we're considering one in India and probably in Russia at some point," he says.
Snecma currently has engine repair facilities in Belgium, China, France and Morocco. The Belgium and French shops are wholly owned, while the plants in Chengdu in China and Casablanca in Morocco are joint ventures with Air China and Royal Air Maroc, respectively.
The Casablanca shop, owned by Snecma Morocco Engine Services, has just been expanded to cover the CFM56-7 variant. The new Mexican shop, owned by Snecma America Engine Services, will open in late 2007 and initially service CFM56-5Bs for Mexicana and other carriers throughout the Americas.
"We need a solution in the US market," Gires says, adding that Snecma hopes to penetrate the US CFM56 maintenance market, currently dominated by CFM partner General Electric.
The new Russian shop is set to open in 2012 and will initially service CFM56s for Aeroflot and S7 Airlines. It will later also service the PowerJet SaM146, powering the new Sukhoi Superjet 100.
PowerJet, a joint venture between Snecma and NPO Saturn, is now discussing a SaM146 maintenance deal with Aeroflot, which ordered 30 Superjet 100s last year. Gires says the Russian facility would likely be operated by a new tri-venture company separate from PowerJet and owned by Snecma, Saturn and Aeroflot.
Source: Flight International
