Azul renews Global Maintenance Agreement for next 10 years

Farnborough, 18 July, 2018 – After almost eight years of cooperation, ATR and the Brazilian carrier Azul today announced the renewal of their Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA). This new ten-year contract covers the repair, overhaul and pooling services of Line Replaceable Units, along with propeller availability and maintenance, plus an on-site stock support. Covering Azul’s whole ATR fleet, currently made up of 33 aircraft, this tailor-made support package represents ATR’s biggest maintenance contract.

Flavio Costa, Vice-President Operations of Azul, commented the announcement: “As Brazil’s leading airline brand, serving more than 100 destinations with 739 daily flights, Azul demands industry leading reliability and availability. Since we started our operations in 2008, we have been the fastest growing airline in Brazil and ATR has been, and will continue to be, a reliable partner all along the way, making sure that we benefit from the appropriate support, as, when and where needed, to make the most of our aircraft.”

“With more than 30 ATR 72-600 aircraft in service, Azul is ATR’s largest operator in Latin America, and we are honoured to see this partnership renewed for 10 years. This renewal is the best tribute a customer can offer to the quality and economics of our products and services. When the GMA was launched in 1996, ATR was the only manufacturer offering such a service. Today, ATR is the leader in terms of “power by the hour” programmes for ATR aircraft with over 50% of the market share.” declared Tom Anderson, Senior Vice-President Programs and Customer Services of ATR.

At the end of 2017, ATR reached a key milestone of more than 300 in-service aircraft covered by GMAs, and 40 operators benefitting from this service. The Latin American market is of particular significance for ATR, as nearly 170 ATR aircraft are operated by 30 operators in the region. With a warehouse in Sao Paulo, an ATR-labelled MRO partner – TAP M&E – in Brazil, and APS Brazil performing the maintenance of propellers, ATR is able to provide its operators with 24/7 assistance as close to their operations as possible.