Independent MRO provider Joramco is embarking on an expansion plan with two wide body hangars, a maintenance hangar and a dedicated wide body paint hangar.
Jeff Wilkinson, chief executive officer DAE Engineering, the Joramco majority shareholder, announced that the Amman-based MRO is embarking on a multi-faceted program that will position Joramco as the global independent MRO providing national flag carriers and tier 1 operators with a full one-stop-shop solution including the further development of its part-out activities.
The expansion program includes the potential for two new hangars at Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), a multi-line maintenance hangar (including an OEM-partnered passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion line), along with additional back shop capabilities and further expansion to the current 5-axis CNC machining center.
The second hangar will see Joramco partner with one of the world’s biggest paint providers to build a center of excellence paint shop capable of taking aircraft up to 1 x B777s or 2 x narrow body aircraft in parallel.
Wilkinson said the foundations for the growth were cemented with the success of Fraser Currie and his team in 2021/2022 – given that Joramco exceeded the $100 million target, and such expansions remain the key enabler for our $200 million target over the coming years.
Wilkinson estimates the first maintenance hangar – designed to take one widebody up to one A380 and four narrowbody types in parallel – will be operational by Q3 2024.
Wilkinson continued “Our vision was always to become a global MRO. We were extremely successful in attracting European business, whilst maintaining our Middle East customer foot print, and more recently proud of our first wide body customers from Asia and South America.”
Looking into the regional market, Joramco has recently secured a deal with Emirates to carry out C-checks and modifications to 777s in its fleet. The 15-months extendable contract comes at a time when the Dubai carrier is operating at full capacity in its maintenance division with its own multi-billion-dollar cabin retrofit project.
Following on from the Joramco ‘Success Story’, Wilkinson admits that he is still open to expanding DAE Engineering reach beyond the Amman based MRO, where the opportunity exists, ideally towards the South East Asia, Eastern European and North Africa regions.