MHIRJ Announces Authorized Service Facility Agreement with Air Nostrum

FARNBOROUGH, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ) has announced today at the Farnborough Air Show the signing of an agreement with Air Nostrum Engineering and Maintenance (ANEM), appointing them as a MHIRJ Authorized Service Facility (ASF) in Europe. This agreement marks an important step in expanding MHIRJ’s service network internationally, allowing MHIRJ to extend, in collaboration with ANEM, the same levels of service that customers in North America receive through its wholly owned service centers.

This agreement expands MHIRJ’s existing ASF support structure in Europe, introducing diversity and additional capacity to the existing network. ANEM’s addition will serve to meet the growing demands of the market, offering a wider array of availability and options for the European sector as well as for MHIRJ customers worldwide.

Based in Valencia (Spain), ANEM is part of the group of companies fully owned by the same shareholders of the airline Air Nostrum. ANEM currently serves as MRO and aircraft maintenance services provider for multiple airlines based in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Air Nostrum has been operating CRJ Series aircraft since the year 1998 and currently operates the largest CRJ Series fleet in Europe, accounting for 37 CRJ Series aircraft. Air Nostrum is a ten-time MHIRJ Customer Reliability Award winner and a multiple time winner of the ERA Airline of the Year. Their vast operational experience will provide a first-rate base to support the CRJ Series fleet in Europe and across the world. Combining the strengths of ANEM and MHIRJ will bring forth our world-class Aftermarket network to the next level, providing our customers the full suite of MRO services.

Hiro Yamamoto, President and CEO of MHIRJ, commented “We are extremely proud to announce this agreement with Air Nostrum which will benefit customers in the European region, allowing them to access strong MRO support close to home. Reliability has always been the CRJ Series fleet’s strong suit; this agreement maintains that reliability and ensures an even stronger commitment to our customers.”

“ANEM brings a versatile set of capabilities that substantially enhances the CRJ Series MRO support for our European and International customers. As the maintenance arm of the largest CRJ Series carrier in Europe; our strategic collaboration with ANEM favorably positions us to collectively grow and expand support outside of North America,” commented Ismail Mokabel, Senior Vice-President and Head of Aftermarket at MHIRJ.

Amel Belkhamsa, Head of Aftermarket Commercial Services and Spare Parts Operations at MHIRJ, added “This is the first step in broadening our relationship with Air Nostrum to provide support to MHIRJ’s customers outside of North America. We wanted to find an MRO with a large range of capabilities to open the door to even more potential future collaboration, such as in the areas of material support and field response services, to ensure that all our international customers receive the best support available.”

Miguel Falcon, Vice Chairman of Air Nostrum and ANEM, said: “We are delighted to strengthen our cooperation with MHIRJ via this ASF agreement as its next Authorized MRO. We have 24 years of experience with the CRJ Series and have provided exceptional reliability for our customers, and this is due largely to the great relationship that we have with MHIRJ.”

Fermin Tirado, General Manager of ANEM, commented: “Thanks to the dedication and exceptional skills of our team members at ANEM, we´re quite pleased to sign this ASF agreement with MHIRJ that enhances our long-established partnership, allows us to increase the number of employees in ANEM, and grow our capacity for our airline customers.”