Story ID: 453
AMAC Bags VVIP 747-8i Completion
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Swiss company touts developments in completions and facility expansions.
Word Count: 465
Completions and MRO specialist AMAC Aerospace (L115) announced highlights of a busy past year, including a completion contract for a head-of-state 747-8i, the redelivery of a Boeing 777-200LR, and preparation for the induction of an ACJ320neo, which will be the first completion performed on the next-generation bizliner.

The 747-8i was inducted in AMAC’s Basel completion center in February for the 20-month project, the company’s second 747-8i completion, and will feature “a unique design,” said AMAC CEO Kadri Muhiddin at EBACE 2018. Company engineers will install an overhead Aeroloft in the widebody for the undisclosed repeat customer.

The B777, redelivered in the second quarter of last year, was the company’s third green completion on the platform and incorporated a 64-inch HD monitor among the cabin appointments.

Meanwhile, the design phase for the ACJ320 completion for launch customer Acropolis Aviation is complete, as is more than half the engineering work, while construction of cabinets and furniture has commenced. Redelivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2019.

With the BBJ Max preparing to launch, Bernd Schramm, AMAC Group COO, said the company is “in dialog” with five purchasers of Boeing’s next-gen offering, who are “now entering the phase of decision making.”

The company also announced at the show Bombardier has named its Basel location as an authorized service facility for maintenance on the Global Express, Express XRS and Global 5000.

AMAC has also been active on the STC front. In March it received an EASA STC for installation of JetWave Ka-band antennas on A318/A319/A320/A321 bizliners, joining STCs for satcom solutions covering the A330-200 and A340-600 received in the second half of last year.

With the rise in demand for its completions and MRO services, AMAC is negotiating with Basel airport authorities to begin building a fifth hangar “by the end of this year,” Muhiddin said, and another two years hence.

Meanwhile, the company is also seeking at least one more hangar for its maintenance facility in Bodrum, Turkey, its newest location, and will offer a tender for the parcel in early June. The facility in Bodrum caters to business aviation customers in the summer and in the winter commercial customers, when their fleets are in lower demand.

AMAC is also Middle East distributor for Pilatus and has two PC-24s on order. According to Muhiddin, both are already sold even though they will not arrive until the third quarter of next year. “We took the decision to take the last two” of the currently available production slots, Muhiddin said, citing a desire to minimize any kinks in production that can affect new platforms early in production.