SriLankan Engineering, the technical arm of SriLankan Airlines, achieved a major milestone in the country’s aviation history when it carried out a Major Maintenance Check on an Airbus A330-200 aircraft of Emirates Airline.Peter Hill, CEO, said: “Our strategy is for SriLankan Engineering to provide maintenance services to airlines throughout Asia and beyond. Our aim is to develop this into a significant stream of additional revenue for the company, as well as being a major foreign exchange earner for the country.”

The project, named a 4C5Y Maintenance check, was awarded to SriLankan ahead of competition from several other reputed aircraft maintenance organizations. It was the first ever Major Maintenance Check by SriLankan on another airline’s aircraft. The 4C5Y is an important maintenance programme that is carried out every five years, and is therefore of considerable importance for any aircraft.

SriLankan further proved its efficiency and professionalism by completing the project a day ahead of the scheduled 24 days.

 

“We are confident that this will be the first of many more such projects from a number of customer airlines,” said Capt. Dick Hutton, Chief Technical Officer. “We are presently in discussions with several carriers including those in India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, offering our expertise in many types of maintenance activities.”

 

SriLankan has in recent times invested heavily in the infrastructure of its engineering facilities at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.

 

“Emirates is one of the largest and most reputed airlines in the world, and we can now go to the market with an important addition to our track record,” said Ian Dunning, Senior Manager Aircraft Maintenance.

 

The Maintenance Check on the Emirates aircraft also involved a large number of major modifications that were carried out simultaneously by SriLankan Engineering, which accounted for about 50% of the time spent on the project. The 4C5Y Check involved every aspect of the aircraft - airframe, avionics, engines, cabins, and painting.

 

“Our strongest asset is the experience, efficiency and talent of our staff. This project has placed our staff morale on top of the world. Right now, they are anxiously awaiting the next Third Party Maintenance Project,” said D.A.G. Jayasuriya, Senior Manager Aircraft Engineering.

 

A lot of detailed planning was carried out months before the aircraft arrived, ensuring that every member of the staff knew what he had to do, and that every spare part and tool required was available.

 

SriLankan Engineering moved into the Third Party Maintenance market after carrying out the first ever in-house 4C5Y Check on a SriLankan Airbus A340 last November, followed by a second one in March, both of which were also completed ahead of schedule.

 

SriLankan Engineering is especially skilled in providing services to Airbus aircraft, which the airline has operated for more than 15 years. SriLankan has a fleet of 4-engined A340s and twin-engined A330s, both of which are wide-bodied long-haul aircraft, and shorter-ranged twin-engined A320s. SriLankan presently operates to 49 destinations in 28 countries.

 

The airline’s list of global awards includes “World’s Most Efficient Operator of Airbus A330s (in the small fleet category)” from Airbus Industrie itself.
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