e-magazine of Direct Maintenance, issue 03, Oct 2012

Welcome to our third edition of TechTimes, the e-magazine of Direct Maintenance, the only independent wide body dedicated line maintenance provider of The Netherlands. During the past months quite some significant growth took place within Direct Maintenance. We are fortunate to receive so much confidence from our loyal customer base, allowing us to grow Direct Maintenance at a decent pace, while not compromising our high standards. Through this newsletter you will find out at which new locations we have opened shop. Further we are keen to announce the recent commencement of supporting a number of high profile customers, such as Thai Airways, Qatar Airways, LANCO Cargo. Interesting to know as well is that Direct Maintenance started supporting Emirates with A380 line maintenance at AMS, since this inaugural service into The Netherlands started on 1 August. To accommodate our growth, we have once again been able to hire excellent new staff, while we remain investing significantly in training. We wish you pleasant reading of TechTimes and for those travelling to Xiamen this week for the 106th IATP conference, till soon!
Warm regards, Roger Meels, Technical Director

As from 1 July 2012, Direct Maintenance and Qatar Airways have celebrated the commencement of a large partnership between both companies, covering various locations and multiple flights per day. Qatar Airways, the 5 star national flag carrier of the State of Qatar, was founded in 1993 and commenced operations in 1994. Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing carriers in the world, now having a fleet of 109 aircraft with another 188 on order, while rapidly expanding its route network. The current arrangement covers the following :

• Nairobi (NBO): double daily A320 passenger flights plus B777F cargo flights
• Dar es Salaam (DAR): triple daily A320 passenger flights
• Amsterdam (AMS): daily B777F cargo flights
• Kilimanjaro (JRO): daily A320 passenger flights
• Future destinations : Mombasa (MBA) and Zanzibar (ZNZ), once routes are being launched

This impressive teaming with Qatar Airways once again highlights the outstanding service level Direct Maintenance delivers to high profile airlines carriers like Qatar Airways. We look very much forward supporting Qatar Airways in these locations for the long haul. The Qatar Airways Regional Maintenance Manager was quoted saying: "Personally, and on behalf of Qatar Airways, I like to thank Direct Maintenance for their hard work to make this operation ready timely on 01 July 2012. This shows how professional Direct Maintenance is. I wish both companies all the best."

On 21 May the inaugural Thai Airways B747-400BCF arrived at Amsterdam. To make this operation possible, Thai Airways converted 2 of its passenger B747-400 aircraft during the past 12 months. The opening of the route between BKK to AMS marks an end to the 20 year absence of Thai Airways operations to The Netherlands. The aircraft was welcomed with the traditional water salute by fire tenders. Direct Maintenance feel privileged and proud to be appointed by Thai Airways, supporting another national flag carrier with customer focused line maintenance services.

Following the opening of Lusaka (LUN) as from 1 Feb 12, Direct Maintenance has moved on to strengthen its position in Eastern Africa, following customer demand. New stations were officially opened in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania respectively. Our capabilities at these stations include:

• Nairobi, Kenya (NBO): A320, A330, A340, B744, B777, MD11
• Entebbe, Uganda (EBB): A330, A340, B777, B744
• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (DAR): A320, A330

Launching customers at our new stations include amongst others Emirates, Qatar Airways, Condor Flugdienst, Air Atlanta Icelandic, Veteran Avia. For those keen to receive more details about our newly opened stations, please feel invited to contact Roger Meels at your convenience.

Cathay Pacific will be changing its equipment deployed on the HKG-AMS route. This process commenced from 1 September, seeing a mixed operation of B747-400 and A340-300. As from the start of the Winter Season 2012/2013, all daily flights will be operated with A340-300, offering a convenient 2 class service. For the AMS team of Direct Maintenance an additional training effort is undertaken, to increase the numbers of A340 licensed staff. For those sad to see the CX B747-400 disappearing, it is comforting to know the Cathay Pacific Cargo flights into AMS remain to be operated with B747-400F's.

Wednesday 1 August 2012 marked a special day in aviation history for The Netherlands as well as for Direct Maintenance. Our valued customer Emirates operated its inaugural A380 commercial service to Amsterdam, operating daily, replacing the B777 in service since 2010. Direct Maintenance applied special decals on its fleet of maintenance ramp vehicles to highlight the occasion. According Roger Meels: "Following an extensive period of preparation, including type training and obtaining the necessary EASA and UAE approvals, all of us at Direct Maintenance have really appreciated this moment. It is so nice to see the dedication displayed by our team, who are very much devoted to ensure our customer's passengers enjoy a safe and convenient flight.". Froukje Hettema, Emirates' Airport Services Manager at AMS was quoted saying: "On this occasion we would like to thank everyone and all departments involved for the smooth handling of our A380. We are very thankful for your preparations prior to receiving this BIG BIRD. Can you please pass our thanks to all departments and staff involved."
The picture below shows the A380 taking off on its first flight from Amsterdam to Dubai, picture courtesy goes to Mr Olmo Mueller.

In today's aviation industry, maintaining aircraft is no longer the domain of men only. Direct Maintenance has recently welcomed on board Ms Edith Kisamo, mechanic at our new Dar es Salaam (DAR) station in Tanzania. Frank Daams, Director Operations, comments: "We are very proud employing staff with such a wide range of backgrounds and so many nationalities at our international line stations. A number of ladies are active in administrative functions, however, this is the first time we have now employed a full time female technician. It is great to see Edith is very eager to learn and according our customer her efforts are received very well."

Just recently LANCO Cargo, based in Bogota, Colombia, received its first brand new B777F. Benefitting from the growth in trade between Latin-America and Europe, LANCO Cargo deployed this "fresh" aircraft into our Amsterdam station. With another new B777F being delivered shortly, Direct Maintenance likes to take this opportunity to wish LANCO and LAN many happy landings and lots of commercial success with these factory new aircraft. Picture courtesy goes to LAN Cargo.

At AMS the following carriers receive B777F line maintenance services from Direct Maintenance : LAN Cargo (US), LANCO Cargo (Colombia), Emirates SkyCargo (UAE) and Qatar Airways Cargo (State of Qatar).

Following the recent addition of the A380, the EASA Part-145 approved "Scope of Work" of Direct Maintenance now includes 40 aircraft-engine combinations. For an in-depth overview of the exact types and to learn at which locations Direct Maintenance currently is active: click here

When interested in our FAA repair station approval: click here

Next to supporting passenger services of Emirates at both Amsterdam (AMS) and Lusaka (LUN), its cargo arm Emirates SkyCargo has been deploying B777F cargo flights into both stations, with the support of Direct Maintenance. At AMS this started during June as an ad-hoc charter flight, which is now moving to a permanent once weekly service. The picture displays an Emirates SkyCargo B777F ready to commence taxi-ing out at AMS for yet another on-time departure. The photo courtesy of this picture goes to Jos Nouwens.

Since 1 August 2012 Veteran Avia and Direct Maintenance entered into an agreement to provide line maintenance support at two line stations, being Nairobi (NBO) and Amsterdam (AMS). Veteran Avia operates a fleet of 3 each B747-200F aircraft for Saudia Cargo on ACMI basis. We look very much forward supporting Veteran Avia in these two locations and possibly expand our teaming over time while the carrier grows its global network further. The courtesy for this picture of a Veteran Avia B742F landing at AMS goes to Robert Szymczak.

End of June Malaysia Airlines (MH) received its first A380 from the Airbus factory at Toulouse, displaying quite a spectacular new livery, especially designed for the MH A380 fleet only. The initial route the A380 is deploying on is KUL-LHR, building up to double daily A380 services. With AMS nominated as alternate for LHR, in case LHR is closed, Direct Maintenance and Malaysia Airlines have entered into an agreement, to provide technical support in case of a diversion. According to Roger Meels: "Having a displaced A380 is quite a challenge for an airline, just imagine the consequences for the passengers and their onwards connections. We of course hope we won't be seeing an ad-hoc A380 of Malaysia Airlines at AMS. But if it does happen Malaysia Airlines can count on our tender love and care". Picture courtesy goes to Malaysia Airlines.

The Direct Maintenance website has recently been enhanced, displaying a number of new action pictures taken while our staff was on duty out on the ramp. No we are not using any handsome stand-ins, the staff are our own mechanics and engineers, working day in and out, to proudly deliver that level of service to our customers. It is recommended to visit www.directmaintenance.nl at times to keep yourselves posted about our ongoing news.

Direct Maintenance will be present at the upcoming 106th IATP conference which will be held in Xiamen, PR of China, from 13 till 17 October 2012, kindly hosted and sponsored by TAECO and HAECO. We look forward meeting the IATP delegates shortly.

To book a meeting slot in advance with Direct Maintenance : Click here

We hope you have enjoyed reading our latest news and developments. Would you wish to discuss how Direct Maintenance could assist your airline in dealing with today’s challenging environment, or in case of any general queries, just contact us. Thank you.

Roger Meels
Technical Director

T + 31 45 573 2200
M + 31 6 224 77 568
E rmeels@directaviation.aero
W www.directmaintenance.nl