SR Technics, a part of the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Aerospace MRO network, has signed a 10-year engine and component services contract with Finland's national carrier Finnair.

With its head office at Zurich Airport, SR Technics provides its services to about 500 airline customers through an extensive network of international operations and sales offices in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East.

As per the deal, Finnair will source all engine services for its A320 and A340 aircraft and component services for its Airbus and Embraer fleet from SR Technics.

The work will start in July 2012 for engine services and in September 2012 for component services.

As part of the agreement, SR Technics’ affiliate will also acquire related tangible assets and inventories from Finnair.

Commenting on the deal, Finnair COO Ville Iho said, 'This agreement with SR Technics is a natural next step for us as we increasingly focus on our core activities as an airline. With this co-operation we can clearly improve the cost efficiency of our engine and component services, while maintaining high quality.'

'This arrangement will also release capital previously tied to component services for use in our core business,' he added.

André Wall, the president of SR Technics said, 'The agreement marks the beginning of a close strategic partnership, in which our focus is to build long-term customer relationships and to provide true value-added services.'

'We see this also as a confirmation of our approach to find solutions to enable airlines to operate in the most cost-efficient way and fully concentrate on their core business,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service