Boeing

The Boeing Company today opened a new Customer Service Center at Dubai International Airport, a step that will significantly enhance spare-parts support to airlines throughout the neighboring region. Boeing is the first commercial jetliner manufacturer to establish this kind of facility in the Middle East.

The 36,000-square-foot (3,300 square meter) leased facility is located in the airport's duty-free zone. Initially it will maintain inventory of 13,000 different kinds of parts worth about $10 million. Boeing will increase inventory over time to keep pace with demand.

"Dubai is an ideal location for us," said Darce H. Lamb, Boeing vice president - Airline Logistics Support. "It's a crossroads of air commerce, centrally located for servicing operators in the Middle East, North Africa, India and the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as carriers flying into this region from other areas."

Lamb noted that having a service center close to the region's customers will help keep delivery times on spares shipments to a minimum. "Combined with our fast order processing, this will reduce our customers' need to hold costly `just in case' inventory, and will support high levels of schedule reliability in their Boeing fleets," he said.

The new center is linked electronically to the Boeing worldwide spares distribution network. That network now consists of seven distribution locations, with an eighth set to open next year in Amsterdam.

For convenience, the new center's customers may order and track shipments through a secure Boeing site on the World Wide Web. In addition, two new alternative delivery services are available: Boeing Direct and Boeing Express, operated in conjunction with UPS and FedEx respectively, offer economical rates, high reliability and simplified billing.

Besides distributing aircraft parts, the new Dubai facility could later evolve to provide repair and overhaul services for aircraft components, and may also serve as a location for logistics training and additional logistics-support services.

The facility further strengthens Boeing support to airlines in the Middle East and adjacent areas. Boeing also has a regional Field Service office in Dubai, and recently relocated it to the new center. The office is headed by regional director Chuck Armstrong, who manages a network of 16 Field Service bases staffed by technical experts who provide on-site advice to Boeing fleet operators.