PETALING JAYA: The recent Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) exhibition has turned out to be a windfall for Airod Sdn Bhd.
Airod, Malaysia’s leading aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) group, signed multi-million ringgit memorandums of understanding (MoU) with foreign partners in the fast-growing industry.
The first MoU signed was with PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), to explore collaboration on N219, an aircraft fully designed and developed by Indonesian engineers, marking its entry into the global market, said its president and director Gita Amperiawan.
In a statement over the weekend, Airod said both parties would team up to explore potential synergies in several strategic areas of marketing and sales of N219 aircraft produced by PTDI in Malaysia, and to establish and develop MRO cooperation in the country.
“PTDI is pleased to partner with Airod on the N219 aircraft, enhancing our complementary strengths and market presence in Malaysia. I am proud to say that N219 also belongs to Asean countries as a Southeast Asia indigenous aircraft product,” Gita said.
Airod CEO Datuk Ismail Ibrahim said: “We truly appreciate the intention of PTDI in selecting Airod to partner in uplifting the aerospace and aviation sector, aligning it with industry and international demands.
“We eagerly anticipate this strategic partner collaboration, with the vision of propelling the aviation industry to greater heights.”
The statement said another MoU was inked between Airod and the Sri Lanka Air Force for cooperation on the maintenance of the latter’s fleet of C-130 aircraft.
It was signed by the commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Marshall Sudarshana Pathirana and Airod senior vice-president Datuk Edron Hayata Ahmad.
Edron said the deal would enable Airod to spread its MRO footprint globally and firm up its commitment to the Sri Lanka Air Force on flight quality and safety, which is paramount.
He added that Airod would also support the Sri Lanka Air Force in its other programmes.
Yet another MoU was signed with US-based International Air Response (IAR), which has been providing emergency oil spill response services to governments, oil and gas producers, shippers and refiners worldwide and in the last decade, in Malaysia and Singapore.
The statement said Airod has been supporting IAR on an ad-hoc basis for the past decade by providing facilities, technical personnel and ground support equipment.
The support services originally began in Singapore, but are now being carried out permanently at the Senai International Airport in Johor.
The last MoU was signed between Airod’s parent company, National Aerospace and Defence Industries (Nadi) and Turkish-based Asfat Inc, a global player in improving operational excellence by developing facilities, capabilities and capacities of military factories and shipyards.
It said the MoU would lead to the easing of export processes of defence industry products and the provision of innovative solutions to friendly and allied nations in design, manufacture, maintenance sustainment and training areas to create lasting public-private partnerships.
“The signing shows the close relationship between Malaysia and Turkiye, and we at Nadi look forward to the collaboration with Asfat, especially for the life cycle management of the Airbus A-400M aircraft domestically and worldwide,” said Nadi president Datuk Rahim Abdul Rahman.
