Omsk airport to provide Superjet line maintenance to IrAero

The airline currently has to deadhead maintenance personnel on each of its SSJ100 flights to Omsk (Anna Zvereva / Wikipedia)

Russia’s Omsk airport is planning to provide maintenance services for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional aircraft operated by IrAero Airlines starting in June this year. Yuriy Prokopenko, the airport’s engineering service director, told Russian Aviation Insider that the corresponding agreement with the airline will be finalized shortly. Prokopenko added that the airport expects other operators to use its new services.

In late March 2017, the airport obtained a FAP 285 approval permitting it to provide line maintenance services on SSJ100s, rectify defects, replace components, and carry out scheduled maintenance operations. The latter include visual inspections and maintenance of the airframe, systems, and powerplants. The airport’s engineering division is also certified to perform minor repairs and modifications that do not require substantial disassembly nor involve specialized instruments and equipment. The provider is currently gearing up to offer daily and weekly checks on SSJ100s.

According to Prokopenko, the airport had been using its in-house maintenance capabilities until February last year, but had to suspend operations due to the absence of customers. Its major Boeing 737Cl/NG customer, Transaero Airlines, went out of business in 2015.

IrAero is currently the only SSJ100 operator serving Omsk. Until 2017 the airline performed maintenance of its aircraft on its own, so eventually asked the airport to relaunch its maintenance division. There are also hopes that Aeroflot will launch an additional flight to Omsk with SSJ100s. Other two potential customers are Yamal Airlines and Yakutia Airlines, both of which operate SSJ100s.

Omsk airport is not planning to obtain MRO clearances of other aircraft types. “Preparing the facilities for maintenance and repair of any specific type is the most costly part of the project, with the costs amounting to millions of rubles,” Prokopenko explained. “We will be ready to bear the expenses only if we find a customer.”