OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2013. Leipzig/Halle Airport and Volga-Dnepr Group have jointly celebrated the official opening of a new aircraft maintenance hangar that is expected to attract airline customers from all over the world.

The hangar facility is being leased by Volga-Dnepr Technics GmbH, the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider representing Volga-Dnepr Technics in Europe, which is part of Volga-Dnepr Group.

The opening ceremony was attended by Alexey Isaikin, President of Volga-Dnepr Group, Ildar Ilyasov, Managing Director of Volga-Dnepr Technics, Stanislaw Tillich, Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff, Minister-President of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Dierk Nather, Executive Director of Leipzig/Halle Airport and Markus Kopp, Chief Executive Officer of Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding.

The hangar has a total area of 8,500 square meters and is designed to accommodate one large freighter such as an AN-124, IL-76 or Boeing747 or four narrow body aircraft, including Boeing 737 or Airbus A320. The hangar’s workload will be generated by Volga-Dnepr Group’s own scheduled and charter airlines as well as from third party airlines. Customers of the new MRO facility could be air carriers residing at Leipzig/Halle Airport or Russian companies suffering from a shortage of aircraft maintenance capabilities on the market. Kalitta Air has already confirmed its intention to use Volga-Dnepr Technics’ services.

As a maintenance shop provider, Volga-Dnepr Technics is going to diversify its area of operations and over time it intends to expand the range of aircraft it will service. In 2013, a Wheel and Brakes Shop will become operational at Leipzig/Halle followed by a Composite and Structural Repair Shop. In addition, the company’s service portfolio includes sales of parts and expendable materials, spare parts delivery, leasing of warehouse facilities and the provision of logistics services personnel. By the end of 2013, the company is going to provide aircraft maintenance С-checks for Boeing 747s and in 2014 will also serve В737 and A320 aircraft types.

At the present time, the company’s EASA Part 145 Certificate (No DE.145.0468) covers the following aircraft types: B747-200, B747-300, B747-400 and B747-8. In 2013, the company is going to expand its certificate to include Boeing 737 Cl and Boeing 737 NG aircraft as well as the Airbus A320 family.

"This event completes the first phase of development of the Volga-Dnepr Group of companies in Germany. We plan to continue to cooperate with the authorities in Saxony in order to create a strong business in coalition with the freight industry. We are confident that the workload of the hangar will be provided by aircraft from around the world. All of the necessary conditions are in place to achieve this,” said Alexey Isaikin.