IAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aviatic to establish an aircraft maintenance centre at Siauliai International Airport in Lithuania.

The new site will provide aircraft maintenance and overhaul services, the conversion of 737NG passenger airplanes into cargo configuration, as well as the training, certification and licensing of personnel.

Aviatic will run the maintenance centre – which will be called Aviatic MRO – and work with Lithuanian regulators, including planning and infrastructure development.

The centre is expected to start operations in 2022.

“The new centre will create a professional and commercial anchor for aircraft maintenance in Lithuania,” said IAI’s EVP and general manager of its aviation group Yossi Melamed. “It is strategically located near some of the busiest air transport hubs in the world.

“Signing the collaboration MoU with Aviatic at a time the aviation market is experiencing the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic testifies to IAI’s aviation expertise and the strong confidence our worldwide customers have in us.”

Aviatic MRO board member Dmitrij Cheliadin commented: “We are glad that IAI has trusted the high-quality specialists, strategically convenient location of Siauliai International Airport and prospects of future growth – the features we offer at Aviatic MRO. This is a big achievement to Lithuania’s sector of aviation and a special acknowledgment of the effort we have already dedicated to this project and can only hope that this partnership will only grow stronger in the near future. In the meantime, we are preparing the needed infrastructure.”