Sepang Aircraft Engineering (SAE), a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre partially owned by Airbus since 2011, has become a fully owned Airbus subsidiary following its acquisition of the remaining shares in SAE.

With this acquisition, SAE becomes an integral part of the Airbus Customer Services network and is set to represent a key element of Services by Airbus' growth strategy in the dynamic Asia Pacific market.

"Since its creation in 2007, SAE has established a strong reputation in the MRO market for on-time and reliable service.

"Our ambition is for SAE to be a leading MRO in the region by becoming an innovation flagship for servicing Airbus commercial aircraft," said Airbus Head of Services, Laurent Martinez in a statement today.

As of September 2017, SAE celebrated the opening of a second hangar to deal with increasing demand.

The MRO operations now has a combined floor area of some 50,000 square metres.

Its first hangar can accommodate up to six single-aisle aircraft or two wide-body aircraft, while the second hangar can accommodate two A320 aircraft at any time for major maintenance checks.

It also features Malaysia's first eco-friendly closed-door dedicated paint bay, as well as state-of-the-art workshops for the repair and overhaul of a wide range of aircraft components, including hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

In addition to its commercial aircraft activities, SAE provides spare parts and technical support services to the Royal Malaysian Air Force's fleet of A400M military airlifters.

The facility also houses a major regional inventory of spare parts for Airbus single-aisle and wide-body aircraft for airlines that have selected the Airbus Flight Hour Services total support package for their fleet.

SAE employs some 500 people and its customers include the AirAsia Group, Cebu Pacific, Indigo, Jetstar Asia, Scoot, Malindo Air, MASWings, and VietJet Air. -- Bernama