Story ID: 306
Atlas Air Service Touts Increased Mx Capabilities
By: Jerry Siebenmark
Caption: Atlas Air Service's January acquisition of AAL means a bigger business aviation services company with greater capabilities.
Word Count: 341
Germany-based Atlas Air Service Group comes to the 2022 MEBAA Show as a bigger company with increased capabilities following its January acquisition of AAL (Booth 750), formerly Altenrhein Aviation, a business aviation maintenance company based in Switzerland. The acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of AAL expanded the companies’ AOG services and improved spare parts availability, as well as access to test equipment and more tools.

With the AAL acquisition, Atlas Group companies employ 280 people and operate from five locations, which includes Augsburg Air Service, also in Germany. Combined, the companies provide aircraft management/charter, sales, maintenance, avionics, and non-destructive testing. On the maintenance side, AAL, Atlas, and Augsburg also have capabilities in sheet metal repair, full interior refurbishment, and paint.

The three group companies have various service center authorizations from Embraer, Cessna Citation, Beechcraft, Hawker, Honeywell, Cirrus, Piper, Gulfstream, Daher, Pilatus, and Williams International. In addition to operating as FAA and EASA repair stations, the companies hold maintenance approvals from regulators in Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, India, Isle of Man, Nigeria, Russia, San Marino, and the UK.

AAL managing director Natascha Rode told AIN that AAL specializes in heavy maintenance on the Gulfstream G150, G200, and G280 and Embraer jets, aircraft for which it is an authorized service center (ASC). “As an Embraer ASC, we have regular customers coming from Africa for major inspections,” she said. "Over the years, AAL technicians have performed numerous 8C, 12C, and 16C inspections. It is not unusual that customers from the Middle East and Asia would ferry their aircraft to Switzerland for such complex maintenance.” 

More recently, AAL has seen an increase in pre-purchase inspections. “It is common knowledge that the aircraft's value is higher if the last major inspection was performed in an authorized service center,” Rode said. She further noted that AAL, Atlas, and Augsburg are accustomed to working with clients from a variety of cultures. “Our employees understand different cultures and by extending our hospitality, we guarantee our customers an ‘at-home’ feeling.”