Aero Expands Maintenance Facility to AddressForex 

Chinedu Eze

In order to meet the yearning need of Nigerian carriers and other airline operators in West and Central Africa, Aero Contractors has embarked on expanding its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility.

This was disclosed by the Managing Director/CEO of the oldest Nigerian carrier, Captain Ado Sanusi, who said the company was in a process of renovating the facility and expanding it. According to Sanusi, the expansion plan would accommodate more aircraft and at the same time, meet the demand of airline operators in dire need of major maintenance facility in Nigeria to cut down high foreign exchange in ferrying their aircraft overseas for repairs.

“We are in the process of renovation, expansion. We have two hangers that we have increased the size to accommodate most of the narrow-body aircraft. So, we are talking about Boeing 737NGs, Airbus A320s, and we are also including other types, Bombardier CRJs, Embraer 145s. We are at the point now of improving the infrastructure. So, we are raising the roof of the hangar. We are redoing the floor. We are doing the electricity, the lighting, and all that stuff. We are also looking at buying new tools. We have bought new tools.

“We are moving to upgrade the hangar to the next level. We have also modernised our workshop. We are in the process of expanding the facility to make sure that we are not only caring for the older aircraft, known as the classics, but also for modern aircraft types. We are also looking forward into the new generation aircraft. As you are aware, we have signed some line maintenance contracts with some companies that are flying the Boeing 737 MAX. They are flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

So, we are moving forward to ensure that we provide to our customers who are flying new airplanes that capability. Yes, we believe in the next 90 days the MRO renovation and expansion should be finished,” he said.

Sanusi further explained that there was need for Aero to expand the maintenance facility in order to reduce the number of Nigerian carriers that ferry their aircraft overseas for maintenance and also provide major maintenance checks for all the aircraft types that operate in Nigeria and beyond.

He also explained that the MRO, when completed,would be able to conduct heavy checks like C and D checks on some aircraft types, especially on the Boeing Classics.

“The MRO has what we call the capability list, so that is our capability to conduct checks on some aircraft types, which we can share with you, it is a long list. But to give you context, for the Boeing 737 classic, we can do up to D check, so A, B, C, D, up to D check, okay, and then for the Bombardier Dash 8-300 and the 400 series, we can do up to D check. We are building the capability for the Bombardier CRJ aircraft type now, and for our workshop, we have a lot of capabilities,” he said.

The company is also training more of its engineers and other technical personnel that specialise on engine workshop, auxiliary power unit (APU), landing gear and others. With such certifications, the facility can comprehensively maintain aircraft in its hangar with its full technical personnel.

“What we want to do next is, we are looking at increasing our capability in the workshop for engines, for APU, auxiliary power unit, landing gear, overhauls, component repairs, and other stuff that we believe we can do. Then for the NGs (New Generation Boeing), I think we can do up to HMV 2, I believe we can do up to HMV that is heavy maintenance 2, which is a different type of maintenance when you compare it with the Boeing classics. And then we intend to also have capability for the Airbus A320, I think we will start the classic very soon, and also the Embraer 145s and other aircraft. Our aim is at the end of the day, we will be a one-stop shop for maintenance in West and Central Africa. That is our aim, and I think we are moving slowly there,” he further said.

It was learnt that Aero Contractors is striving to meet the needs of local aircraft fleet in terms of conducting maintenance for most of them because since 2015 the Nigerian currency, the naira started losing value massively against major currencies of the world, airlines in Nigeria have been finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their aircraft overseas due to Forex challenge.

The airlines earn their revenues in naira and use so much of it to buy few dollars because of the naira’s heavy fall in value, a situation that has reduced the ability of the airlines to acquire more aircraft and pay and bring some of the aircraft taken overseas for maintenance.

Invariably, this has given rise to limited capacity and high cost of flight ticket, which has consequently reduced the number of people who travel by air, a situation that is threatening the existence of the airlines. So, Aero may provide the elixir by the time it competes the upgrade and expansion of its maintenance facility.

Sanusi further explained that maintenance facility must be certified by the regulatory authority, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which sine years ago issued Aero with Approved Maintenance Organisation (ATO) certificate. Aero has also obtained ATO from other regulatory authority in some countries in West and Central Africa and beyond. So, airlines can come from these countries to maintain their aircraft at the Aero facility.

The Aero boss also said: “There are checks for the classics that are based on the manufacturer’s recommendations. That this is the checks that you need to carry out, and they are based on either calendar or hours flow (Nigeria allow 18 months before compulsory C-check; except on brand new aircraft). So, those checks, like the A checks, the B checks, mostly are line checks. And then when you start coming to C check, well the B check can be maintained at the base too. But when you come to base (maintenance facility), you have the C check. The C check also has categories of C1, C2, all the way to C6, which is the D check, which we call the D check. And then those are checks that are usually on hours and calendar driven. Now when you come to HMV (Heavy Maintenance Visit), it’s totally different.

“It’s MSG (Maintenance Steering Group), I think it’s an MSG programme. What it means is that it is like a live development program that manufacturers have seen over the years. And they have built reliable aircraft on it. So, they are trying to remove calendar limitations, and now you are more or less looking at components. So, you are more or less looking at, okay, how many hours this component has reached, how many hours that component has reached. And then you put them up, and then you have a HMV one.”

In other words, aircraft manufacturers are looking at a situation where certain components of the aircraft will be replaced when they are due after operating for hours or landings. So as they are replaced on that count, there would not be any need taking the wholeaircraft out for maintenance on calendar calculation. This new programme is for new generation aircraft, but the old classics will still face their calendar maintenance programme.

“I think those are the main differences between the classic, which is older aircraft, and the newer NGs, which is more like a development programme that you have. They have built an aircraft, and they have seen how reliable the aircraft is, so, they are no longer having a calendar cap on it. Rather, they are monitoring the components,” Sanusi further said.