Vueling has awarded a long-term MRO contract to Iberia Maintenance covering airframes, engines and parts.

Maintenance work will primarily be carried out at the airline’s Barcelona base.

The deal comes as part of the IAG partners’ commitments to fortify aircraft maintenance activity at Barcelona’s El Prat airport.

Iberia Maintenance will be the sole provider of maintenance and repair services to the CFM56-5B engines powering part of Vueling’s fleet of A320ceos, as well as preferential provider of these services to the aircraft equipped with V2500 engines.

Iberia Maintenance’s manager Andy Best said the new contract with Vueling was “a major milestone in our business and a further improvement to our already solid relationship with our partner airline. Apart from strengthening maintenance activity in El Prat, the deal indicates confidence in our work on engines and parts. We feel both pride and a sense of responsibility on becoming a leading MRO provider to fellow IAG airlines like Vueling, which chose us because of our high standards of quality and efficiency.”

The agreement is in keeping with Iberia Maintenance’s strategy of building up its Barcelona business, and covers C-checks and 6-year-checks of Vueling’s fleet of A320ceos and A320neos.

Vueling will also use Iberia Maintenance as preferential partner for pre-handover checks of aircraft sold, leased or returned.

Vueling has also charged Iberia Maintenance with responsibility for ensuring the availability of certain critical aircraft components and equipment, such as wheels and brakes (some 5,000 annual replacements or repairs), emergency equipment, oxygen bottles, cabin crew seats, batteries, evacuation slides, and more.