
AFI KLM E&M is targeting increased CFM International Leap engine availability for customers through a new planned joint venture and upgraded test cell capabilities.
At the Paris Air Show, the MRO provider announced it is starting negotiations with AerCap to form a Leap engine leasing joint venture that will support its Premier MRO customers. The companies intend to jointly own and manage a fleet of Leap-1As and -1Bs to eliminate service disruptions while engines undergo shop visits within AFI KLM E&M’s MRO network.
In January, AFI KLM E&M signed an agreement with CFM International to purchase up to 10 spare Leap-1A and -1B engines.
“In a Leap spare market where access to spares will be key for operators, by pooling our respective strengths in engine leasing and MRO services, we are enhancing our ability to support Leap engine operators with greater flexibility and operational continuity,” said Anne Brachet, executive vice president of AFI KLM E&M.
The company also announced that it has finalized the industrialization of the Leap-1A at its recently upgraded test cell facilities in Amsterdam and Paris, and it expects to accomplish the same for the Leap-1B later this summer.
The test cells will provide engine diagnostics, performance validation and post-maintenance certification under controlled conditions. AFI KLM E&M says some of the test cells’ key capabilities include full-thrust testing, simulation of operational flight conditions, real-time digital data acquisition and advanced noise and vibration analysis.
“As Leap engines become the backbone of modern narrowbody fleets, this test cell gives us a strategic advantage in ensuring quick turnarounds and uncompromising reliability for our customers,” said Jean-Louis Forest, AFI KLM E&M’s senior vice president of group engine product.
On the sidelines of the Paris Air Show this week, AFI KLM E&M told Aviation Week Network it is striving to develop more repairs to keep its parent companies’ and customers’ aircraft flying. As part of these efforts, it has created 200 repair procedures for Leap engines.