Engineering and maintenance provider, HAECO, has expanded its line maintenance partnership with Japan Airlines (JAL) at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

This marks the first time JAL has entrusted an overseas MRO provider with advanced, non-routine maintenance tasks including technical inspection, lubrication, testing, and cleaning at one of its key outstations.

Gerald Steinhoff, chief commercial officer of HAECO, said: “We are honoured to be the first international MRO appointed by JAL to deliver specialised line maintenance services at their Chinese Mainland outstation, Shanghai Pudong Airport.

“This partnership not only reflects JAL’s confidence in HAECO’s best-in-class capabilities but also reinforces our long-standing collaboration, which has steadily expanded in scope and geographic coverage over the years.”

Takashi Koimai, senior vice president – aircraft maintenance centre NARITA of JAL Engineering Co., Ltd., said: “We are proud to assign our first planned maintenance task entrustment at an overseas station to HAECO, a company with whom we have built a strong relationship over many years.

“This new collaboration is a major milestone for HAECO and JAL. As an airline committed to the highest standards of flight safety and overall service quality, striving to be the most preferred airline by customers worldwide, we are pleased to have a long-standing partner who can support our service.”

Since 2018, HAECO been supporting JAL’s joint venture, Spring Japan, with routine line maintenance checks at multiple Chinese Mainland outstations including Beijing, Dalian, Harbin, Nanjing, Ningbo, Shanghai Pudong, and Tianjin.

By 2024, this partnership further extended to cover JAL’s fleet in Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai Pudong, and Tianjin, underscoring JAL’s confidence in HAECO’s technical expertise and consistently high-quality service.

HAECO currently provides line maintenance services for over 140 airlines worldwide and has 19 stations across Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.

JAL and HAECO are actively exploring opportunities to expand this specialised line maintenance collaboration to additional stations in JAL’s network.

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