AMES Autoclave is Gulf's first radome repair facility

The installation of an autoclave at its state-of-the-art repair shop in Jebel Ali, Dubai raises the regional benchmark on highly effective rapid-response aircraft maintenance solutions and gives the region its first radome repair solution. 

“This removes the need to outsource to Europe or the USA,” said Vincent D’Andrea, SVP Engineering & Maintenance Components Products for Air Franc KLM-EM.CP. D’Andrea said the autoclave could help shave as much as 10 days off major repair schedules resulting in huge transportation and scheduling savings for clients. “This greatly improves our operation for airlines in the Middle East with significant saving on local turnaround times.” 

The installation of the autoclave, which was proven in previous service with Air France at Le Bourget and has undergone a full retrofit and modification programme, will also, according to Philippe Couteaux, Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Development, SAFRAN, allow AMES to expand its product offering to clients and mark a strategic growth era in the company’s support activity and position it for new work with airframe components.

Building on a new FAA certificate, along with the new autoclave for composites and its skilled on-site repair engineering team, AMES can now accommodate a growing volume of nacelle MRO work while also creating capabilities for composite repairs on aerostructure parts such as radomes, winglets and flight control surfaces. The capabilities also apply to Safran Nacelles’ latest products, including the nacelle system for Airbus’ A320neo version and the planned introduction of the company’s nacelle system for the A330neo. “AMES also is uniquely positioned to accommodate the very large nacelles and thrust reversers for General Electric’s GE90 engines on Boeing 777s, along with the Engine Alliance GP7200s and Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines that power Airbus A380s,” said Couteaux. The joint venture has also successfully developed on-wing support activities that involve the deployment of its teams to serve clients across the Middle East and Indian Sub-continent. 

AMES opened in 2010 and currently employs 20 staff with a 50% increase envisaged by 2020, according to Couteaux. The company’s new capabilities will be its main sales thrust when it mounts a branded. Stand-alone promotion at February’s MRO Middle East show at the Dubai World Trade Centre.