July 7 (SeeNews) - German manufacturer MTU Aero Engines plans to start operations at the engine repair facility it is building in Nova Pazova, northern Serbia, at the end of 2022, it said.
The company's Serbian unit currently has about 60 employees on board and over the next few years, their number is expected to grow to about 500, MTU Aero Engines said in a statement earlier this week.
On July 5, MTU Aero Engines started the construction of the engine repair plant, which will be operated by its fully-owned subsidiary MTU Maintenance Serbia.
"The ramp-up of this additional capacity in Serbia is an essential element in our ability to offer competitive services in the global market," Michael Schreyoegg, MTU Aero Engines' Chief Programme Officer, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Over the past two years, MTU has worked with the Serbian education ministry to develop the Aviation Academy in Belgrade into a leading training center for aviation professions. In line with the quality standards of the aviation industry, job profiles specially tailored to engine technology were implemented as early as September 2020, and the first MTU Maintenance Serbia specialists have now been trained, the company said.
MTU signed in November 2020 an exclusive V2500 engine maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) contract with flag carrier Air Serbia. The six-year agreement covers MRO, engine trend monitoring and spare engine services for Air Serbia’s v-powered A319 and A320 aircraft fleet.