AEROSTAR – keeps on track
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire commercial aviation industry very hard, in some cases producing an overnight halt to operations. Companies came face to face with multiple and complex challenges, some of them being encountered for the first time.
AEROSTAR S.A. is confident that customers found the company to be a reliable and supportive partner that was always ready to meet their needs so they could successfully overcome the difficulties that the worldwide COVID-19 crisis brought. During the past 18 months, it has kept in very close contact with them and will continue to do so with the hope that its efforts will help them to more easily recover as the industry gets back on its feet.
For AEROSTAR, it was clear from the beginning of the pandemic that, when the recovery takes place, there would be a significant increase in demand for MRO services. The slowdown in the market was taken as an opportunity to invest in multiple recurrent training courses for all personnel, while, in parallel, type rating courses were continued for younger employees assigned to be the company’s future generation of licensed staff.
Despite the crisis, AEROSTAR reached a new milestone in its history in August 2020 with the opening of a brand new three-bay maintenance facility at Iasi in northeast Romania, 130km north of Aerostar’s existing business operations at Bacau where two hangars provide seven aircraft bays. Iasi is dedicated to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft families and, in early September 2020, the first aircraft arrived for a maintenance check, an Airbus A320neo (LEAP-1A), operated by long-term customer Pegasus Airlines of Turkey.
Even though the business environment has been extremely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s 2020 goals have been successfully achieved, giving confidence for better results for 2021. This will be helped by extending the portfolio to include the Airbus A320neo (PW1100) and the Boeing 737 MAX.
Dan Velescu, Director MRO Civil Aviation Division, said: “The new maintenance facility in Iasi will help to strengthen and confirm the company’s position as the main independent provider of MRO services both in Romania and in the region. This will see a continuation of more than 20 years of MRO experience, offering flexibility and high-quality standards, all being tailored and customized for each client to better meet their specific needs.”
Grigore Filip, General Director of AEROSTAR, added: “We want to once again reassure our current and potential customers that they can rely on AEROSTAR as a solid and reliable partner within the commercial MRO field.”