Georgia’s Myway Technics enters regional MRO market

Myway Technics is initially focused on maintaining the fleet of Georgian start-up Myway Airlines (Myway Arlines)

Georgian start-up carrier Myway Airlines, backed by China’s Hualing Group, has announced the launch of a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider called Myway Technics, which will cater for the continued airworthiness of the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737NGs.

Although not formally connected, the two companies share more than a common name. Myway Technics was founded by George Zhang, a Chinese national and the airline’s director, and will initially focus on maintaining the aircraft operated by Myway Airlines. However, its ambition is to eventually offer third-party maintenance services.

Myway Technics won its approval from the Georgian aviation authorities in late March this year. Certification entitles the company to provide line maintenance up to 2A-Checks on Boeing 737NG aircraft, Georgy Berdzenishvili, head of Myway Technics and technical director of Myway Airlines has advised Russian Aviation Insider. The provider is already performing line maintenance servicing of Myway Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 at Tbilisi International Airport, and plans to open another line station at Batumi, as the airline prepares for the launch of regular services from that airport too.

The new provider is facing substantial competition though, as Georgia’s aircraft MRO market is anything but underserved. National flagship carrier Georgian Airways, for example, runs its own maintenance facilities, and there is also the existing, locally-based Airplane Technics, and Lithuanian FL Technics. However, Myway Technics is ambitious to eventually start offering services to third-party carriers.

To expand its capabilities, it plans to obtain approvals for Boeing 737CL and Airbus A320 family aircraft. “When this will happen depends on customers. In the meantime we are working on obtaining the EASA Part 145 certificate,” Berdzenishvili reveals, adding that no component maintenance is considered at this moment.

When faced with the question of what inspired the airline to launch its own in-house maintenance facility instead of relying on existing providers, he said the company believes that the MRO sector is “a long-term profitable and strategic business.” He also claimed the company has already received interest from other airlines in the region.

Myway Airline, which launched commercial operations on March 31, plans to grow its current fleet of two Boeing 737-800s with the financial backing of Hualing Group, a major investor in the Georgian economy.