Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, accepted the bid submitted by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China to construct a 100 million dollar maintenance hanger.
The AVIC and Ethiopian Airlines are discussing financing for the project said Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive of Ethiopian Airlines.
It is expected that the construction project for the maintenance hanger will commence in the first quarter of 2012 to be completed within 900 days from when construction begins according to Tewolde.
The Ethiopian Airlines management team evaluated the technical and financial capacity of AVIC before awarding the project to the construction firm.
The initial invitation for bids to construct the hangar was issued in 2011 as part of Ethiopian Airlines expansion projects to meet the airlines Vision 2025.
The expansion projects will include new headquarters, and developing the aviation academy and a simulator building for a range of different aircraft including the Boeing 787.
The maintenance hanger to be constructed will increase the number of hangars Ethiopian Airlines operates to four.
It is to be remembered that The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul unit of Ethiopian Airlines, has received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency. The Approval Certificate, EASA Part 145, was granted to the maintenance division of Ethiopian Airlines on the 21st of November.
The approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency allows the MRO division of Ethiopian Airlines to repair the airplanes and aircraft components of European Union member country registered airlines. The airline is also authorized to issue EASA Airworthiness Certificates.
The authorization includes the B757 and B767 fleet line maintenance, component maintenance and base airframe maintenance.
