SriLankan Engineering awarded major contract by Indian carrier

SriLankan Engineering, the aircraft maintenance arm of SriLankan Airlines, has been awarded a major contract to carry out a series of important maintenance checks on the aircraft fleet of the fast-growing Indian carrier IndiGo.

IndiGo is India’s largest domestic low-fare carrier, and is now the country’s third largest airline in terms of passengers carried.

SriLankan’s CEO, Manoj Gunawardena said, “We are delighted that IndiGo is the latest long-term customer of SriLankan Engineering, which has been positioned as a top quality aircraft maintenance provider with the strongest credentials and capabilities.

We are now ready to carry out work for all airlines in the region, and it is our intention to develop our maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility to be a centre of excellence.”

The project is being carried out at SriLankan Engineering’s main hangar complex at the Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

The first C-check commenced on February 9 and was successfully completed, with a second scheduled later in the same month.

Acting Head of Engineering at SriLankan, D.A.G. Jayasuriya said, “SriLankan Engineering proved its capabilities by carrying out several Heavy Maintenance Checks for airlines such as Airblue and Emirates over the last several years. We have demonstrated time and again that we provide the highest level of expertise and a rapid time of completion at very competitive rates.

Our objective now is to secure continuous business from major airlines and smaller airlines that are expanding rapidly. We have a superb facility at BIA, and our engineering staff are second to none.”

A high-level team from IndiGo, led by its Chief Operating Officer and its Vice President for Engineering, visited facilities at the BIA and were quite satisfied with the capabilities and expertise of SriLankan Engineering.

SriLankan Engineering in 2007 received the prestigious industry standard EASA 145 from the European Aviation Safety Agency, in recognition of its commitment to the highest standards of professionalism in aircraft maintenance.

A few months later, the airline’s school for pilots, aircraft engineers and technicians, SriLankan Technical Training, became one of a few companies in Asia to receive the EASA 147 certification to provide training in Aircraft Maintenance to foreign and local students.

SriLankan Engineering has achieved some impressive accomplishments in recent times. Airbus Industry last year presented SriLankan with its global award for Operational Excellence among all small airlines that operate the 4-engined A340 aircraft.

Airbus, one of the world’s two largest manufacturers of commercial aircraft, had earlier presented SriLankan with the same award for the twin-engined A330.

SriLankan has a wealth of experience with Airbus aircraft, having an all-Airbus fleet of A320, A330, and A340 aircraft.