Etihad Airways expands strategic partnership with Air France-KLM through component maintenance agreement for its Boeing 777 fleet

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2015-11-10 — /Travel PR News/ — Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has expanded its strategic cooperation with Air France-KLM through a several hundred million US dollar component maintenance agreement for its Boeing 777 fleet.

The 10-year deal, effective February 2016, provides Etihad Airways and its equity partners with access to an extensive global pool of components offered by Air France-KLM’s maintenance arm, Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M), for the wide-body aircraft through the 777 Component Services Program (CSP) jointly operated with Boeing. Etihad Airways currently operates a fleet of 33 long-range and extended-range passenger and cargo Boeing 777 variants.

The maintenance agreement is the latest phase of a partnership struck between Etihad Airways and Air France-KLM in October 2012. The carriers have a commercial alliance involving codesharing on flights across their networks over hubs in Abu Dhabi, Paris and Amsterdam. The wide-ranging codeshare agreement sees Etihad Airways and Air France-KLM offering joint codes on destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Jeff Wilkinson, Senior Vice President Technical of Etihad Airways, said: “Through this latest phase in our relationship with Air France-KLM, we are confident Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance will provide easy, quick, reliable and cost-effective access to components for our triple seven aircraft which are the backbone of our rapidly-growing fleet.

“It builds on an excellent commercial agreement we have enjoyed with Air France-KLM over the past three years helping to provide the high level of efficiencies required in a competitive environment.”

Franck Terner, Executive Vice President of Air France KLM Engineering & Maintenance, said:

“We are very pleased with the trust placed by Etihad Airways in our services. This agreement further demonstrates the competitiveness of our component support offer, and AFI KLM E&M’s ability to tailor maintenance solutions exactly matching its customers’ needs.”

The agreement provides Etihad Airways with access to AFI KLM E&M’s extensive component maintenance network and a significant upgrade of its service offering. Through its global MRO network, AFI KLM E&M will maintain pool stock in the UAE and around the world to support Etihad Airways’ Boeing 777 fleet. In addition, the partnership includes a framework for further collaboration with Etihad Airways’ partners and a tie-up with Etihad Airways Engineering for additional maintenance services.

Etihad Airways and Air France-KLM together provide a combined codeshare network of over 40 destinations. The strategic alliance is aimed at exploring areas of potential cooperation, including joint procurement, maintenance and repair collaboration to identify cost savings and achieve economies of scale.

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About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways began operations in 2003, and in 2014 carried 14.8 million passengers. From its Abu Dhabi base, Etihad Airways flies to, or has announced plans to, serve 113 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. The airline has a fleet of 119 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and more than 200 aircraft on firm order, including 66 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777X, 62 Airbus A350s and five Airbus A380s.

Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Virgin Australia, and Swiss-based Darwin Airline, trading as Etihad Regional. Etihad Airways, along with airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI, also participate in Etihad Airways Partners, a new brand that brings together like-minded airlines to offer customers more choice through improved networks and schedules and enhanced frequent flyer benefits.  For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com 

About Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance
Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance is a major multi-product MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) provider. With a workforce of over 14,000, AFI KLM E&M offers comprehensive technical support for airlines, ranging from engineering and line maintenance to engine overhaul, aero structure and thrust reversers support, as well as the management, repair and supply of aircraft components, structured around a powerful logistics network. AFI KLM E&M supports almost 1,500 aircraft operated by 200 major international and domestic airlines. AFI KLM E&M was voted MRO of the Year 2015 by Aviation Week Magazine, and MRO of the Year 2014 and 2015 by Airline Economics. 

For more information contact:

Updesh Kapur
Etihad Airways Corporate Communications
Phone: +971 2 511 3276
Email:  ukapur@etihad.ae

AFI KLM E&M Communications Director
Aurélien Gomez
Phone: +33 1 49895352
E-mail: augomez@airfranceklm.com
Follow us: @afiklmem

SOURCE: Etihad

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