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Zhuhai (China), 21 January 2015 – MTU Maintenance, one of the leading engine MRO providers worldwide, has signed an exclusive maintenance agreement with the Japanese low-cost carrier Solaseed Air which covers all 24 CFM56-7B and -7BE engines powering the airline’s fleet of 12 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The contract will run for twelve years and has a value of about 200 million Euros (260 million US dollars ). In addition to engine maintenance, MTU Maintenance will provide Solaseed Air with spare engine and on-site support. The engines will be overhauled at MTU Maintenance’s Asian location in Zhuhai, China. For MTU Maintenance, this is the largest agreement from a Japanese customer since the company entered the Japanese market in 2010.

“We are very proud that we could extend our excellent cooperation with Solaseed Air,” said Frank Bodenhage, Managing Director at MTU Maintenance Zhuhai. “The fact that Solaseed Air is trusting us with another engine model, is a further sign that the excellent and reliable services provided by MTU Maintenance are well respected among our customers in Japan and the rest of Asia. We are confident that we will continue this road of success in the future as well.”

MTU Maintenance started cooperating with Solaseed Air in 2011 with a maintenance agreement for the airline’s CFM56-3 engines. “MTU Maintenance has proven a reliable and trustworthy partner which provides us with outstanding service quality, and we are happy to continue sending the company our latest generation engines for maintenance,” said Hiroshi Takahashi, CEO at Solaseed Air. “MTU Maintenance’s Total Engine Care program is also a great advantage for Solaseed Air as we could add additional services from a single source.” Solaseed Air, incorporated as Skynet Asia Airways Co. Ltd., was founded in 2002 and serves domestic destinations within Japan.

Within MTU Maintenance’s network of locations, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai specializes in the maintenance, repair and overhaul of CFM56 and V2500 engines. The location is a 50:50 joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and China’s largest airline China Southern Air Holding Company. MTU Maintenance Zhuhai is today the country’s market leader and among the top engine MRO providers in Asia. Due to its excellent reputation in the region and the continuously growing demand in the Asian market, the company has increased its shop visit capability by 50 percent from 200 to 300 per year in 2012.

About Solaseed Air
Solaseed Air, formally known as Skynet Asia Airways Co., Ltd, has been serving the communities of southern Japan since 2002, when it commenced flights between its home in Miyazaki, a resort area in southern Kyushu – the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands – and Tokyo. Since then, Solaseed Air’s network has grown to 62 daily round-trip flights on 8 routes, linking major cities in Kyusyu – Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Oita and Kagoshima – with Tokyo, sub-tropical Okinawa in the very south of the Japanese archipelago and Kobe.

About MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines is Germany's leading engine manufacturer and is an established global player in the industry since 80 years. It engages in the development, manufacture, marketing and support of commercial and military aircraft engines components and industrial gas turbines. The company is a technological leader in low-pressure turbines, high-pressure compressors and manufacturing processes. Figuring significantly among MTU's core competencies are the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of commercial engines and the service support it provides for industrial gas turbines. These activities are combined under the roof of MTU Maintenance, which is one of the world’s largest providers of commercial engine MRO services. MTU operates affiliates around the globe; Munich is home to its corporate headquarters. In fiscal 2013, the company had a workforce of some 8,700 employees and posted consolidated sales of some 3.7 billion euros.