Dubai World Central (DWC) wants to attract more aircraft maintenance companies after signing up Lufthansa Technik Middle East as the anchor tenant of its aerospace supply chain facilities, a DWC official said yesterday.
“Our target is to have an engine MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] facility and a landing-gear MRO facility at DWC by the end of the year,” said Tahnoon Saif, the vice president of DWC’s Aviation District.
“We want to sign [them up] during this year and have the facilities opened by the end of the fourth quarter.”
The plans for the new facilities in DWC’s Aviation District were announced on Saturday.
The project, which is estimated to cost Dh120 million, is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of next year and will comprise office and warehousing facilities spread across 45,000 square metres.
UAE airlines have hundreds of aircraft on order, which will be delivered over the next few years. The domestic MRO facilities will help carriers to save on maintenance costs.
“Time is money for airlines. Having all of this aircraft maintained here, this is the value that we are proposing,” Mr Saif said.
“It’s good to have Lufthansa Technik as small components MRO – the small parts of the aircraft which needs to be fixed,” he said.
He added that the MRO facilities at DWC will be targeting budget airlines such as flydubai and Air Arabia.
The aviation sector is also expected to contribute US$53 billion to the economy by 2020, according to industry experts, as the UAE looks to diversify its income away from oil and gas.
DWC is a city build around Dubai’s second airport, Al Maktoum International. It will also be near the venue of Expo 2020.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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