Mubadala Investment Company's Sanad signed an agreement with Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre, a division of Emirates airline, to boost cooperation in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services.
The agreement will lead to the creation of aero-engine centres of excellence, as well as the development of dedicated repair and training facilities and other areas of collaboration and knowledge sharing.
“Our historic agreement with EEMC presents tremendous opportunities to create value for the UAE’s growing aerospace industry and more importantly, to generate high-value job opportunities for Emirati talent,” said Mansoor Janahi, chief executive of Sanad's Aerotech arm.
“This also marks the beginning of a productive collaboration between two of the UAE’s largest homegrown aviation and aerospace companies that can turn the nation’s aspirations of a global-leading UAE-based MRO hub into reality.”
EEMC already has an engine maintenance facility at Al Warsan in Dubai, which carries out dedicated engine MRO services to the Emirates fleet. Sanad, on the other hand, has a facility that has built strategic partnerships with leading aero engine manufacturers including Rolls Royce, GE and International Aero Engines.
“Emirates is confident that this collaboration will deliver substantial benefits to the UAE aviation industry as a whole,” said Mohammed Jaffar Nasser, Emirates’ senior vice president of engineering maintenance.
Earlier this week, Mubadala Investment Company announced the merger of three of its companies - aero engine MRO Sanad Aerotech, industrial and energy MRO Sanad Powertech and aero leasing and asset finance business Sanad Capital. The new entity will simply be known as Sanad, derived from the Arabic word for “support”.
“Sanad will spearhead Mubadala’s strategic investments in key technologies and capabilities to enhance and strengthen its global positioning. As a trusted partner providing holistic services in aviation and industrial MRO, engine financing and leasing, Sanad will play a key role in promoting Abu Dhabi as a global aerospace hub,” said Badr Al Olama, head of Mubadala Aerospace.
Sanad also signed a Dh500 million deal with GE Aviation to provide maintenance services for GE's next generation of engines for narrow and wide body aircraft.
Sanad Capital, meanwhile, completed delivery of its 12th engine to Etihad Airways, marking the final tranche of a $280m (Dh1.03bn) deal signed between the two Abu Dhabi aerospace companies in 2016.
