MAE and Alenia Aeronavali to Set Up JV Company for ATR Maintenance

Released on Thursday, July 17, 2008

Farnborough (17 July 2008): MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MAS) and the Italian Alenia Aeronavali, a Finmeccanica Company controlled by Alenia Aeronautica, today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) towards the establishment of a Joint Venture in Malaysia.

The MoA for this Joint Venture, where MAE will be the majority shareholder and fully supported by Avions de Transport Regional (ATR), allows both signatory parties to create a comprehensive aircraft Maintenance and Repair Overhaul (MRO) company.

MAE Managing Director, Mr Mohd Roslan Ismail, and Alenia Aeronavali Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gennaro Di Capua signed the MoA today at the Farnborough Air Show, United Kingdom, witnessed by Malaysia Airlines' Executive Director/ Chief Financial Officer, Tengku Dato' Azmil Zahruddin and Filippo Bagnato, Finmeccanica EVP Technical, Industrial and Commercial Development.

"This is a significant occasion for MAE, as Aeronavali has more than 50 years of experience in MRO jobs and is an experienced ATR service provider. We can leverage on our collective expertise to continue to offer a high level of safe and secure flight operations. We can also market these services to other airlines at highly competitive costs," Roslan said.

Di Capua said: "This new venture will combine the efficiency and effectiveness of an experienced airline like MAS and the know-how of the Finmeccanica Group's companies in the MRO sector. We are sure that the new joint venture will produce outstanding results in the Malaysian and the regional MRO markets".

The proposed MRO will support the future fleet of 15 ATR aircraft that will join two MAS subsidiaries, namely Firefly and MASwings, as well as other potential operators in the region during its first stage of operations. In the second stage, the JV will develop additional business opportunity in the cargo conversions and specialized activities.