EirTrade Aviation is to manage the disassembly and consignment of the world’s first two 787-8s to be retired from commercial service.

The Dublin-headquartered global aviation asset management and trading company will disassemble the two 10-year-old aircraft simultaneously off-site, with parts expected to be available in late Q1 2023.

EirTrade said it had been ramping up its aircraft disassembly activities at its facility in Knock, Ireland West, focusing on Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The company’s VP asset management Lee Carey noted that the company’s “proven track record and global network were pivotal in securing the deal”. He added: “Our targeted relationships with airlines, MROs and OEMs on the 787 platform were crucial to securing this project and maximising the value of the two aircraft.”

EirTrade Aviation’s CEO Ken Fitzgibbon said that with the first 787s approaching the 12-year check, the disassembly of these two 787 aircraft “could not come at a better time for operators and maintenance facilities of the aircraft looking to source used serviceable material (USM) for the aircraft to reduce the cost of maintenance”. He added: “As no 787s have been retired from commercial service to date, there is almost no USM market for this platform at the moment. We are entering into a specialist area and hope to become a market leader in the provision of USM for the platform which will enable the reduction of the cost of maintenance events for 787 aircraft owners.”

The disassembly process will be coordinated in Prestwick and managed by Steven Trowell, hangar manager for EirTrade. He forecasted that the disassembly process will take around three months in total. “Understandably, there has been huge interest in these aircraft,” he said. “There will, of course be challenges along the way and were the disassembly taking place at our own facility in Knock, it would have afforded us a greater degree of flexibility in terms of manpower, tooling, and logistics. However, any potential disruption to the schedule will be kept to a bare minimum and we are privileged to be given the opportunity of disassembling the first 787-8s.”

EirTrade will be managing the inventory of assets with a view to selling, leasing, or exchanging material removed from both aircraft, which will be stored in one of the company’s facilities in Ireland. “We have, of course, already inducted Boeing and Airbus widebodies for disassembly and are no stranger to disassembling new technology aircraft having previously been involved in the first A380 aircraft to be retired and one of the first companies to disassemble the CFM56-7BE engine,” said Carey.