Etihad Airways Signs Component Maintenance Agreement with Air France-KLM

Etihad Airways 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.”

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.