Boeing

Hawker de Havilland has signed a memorandum of agreement to become the latest Boeing Service Centre supporting Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

The Boeing Melbourne Service Centre, located in Port Melbourne, will service aircraft components for all Boeing commercial aircraft. This service centre joins the Boeing Airplane Services service centres network located in Seattle, Dallas, London, Singapore, Long Beach, Calif., and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The Melbourne service centre will serve as the region's primary service centre, specialising in rapid repair and overhaul of composite and metal bonded components for civil and military aircraft.

The typical range of components repaired includes flaps, ailerons, elevators, spoilers, rudders, doors, leading edge devices and fairings.

"Our geographical proximity to Asia and the lack of significant time differences give us an edge over alternative European or North American repair centres," said Lindsay Anderson, Hawker de Havilland managing director. "This contract is an excellent opportunity to grow our repair and overhaul business."

The Service Centre at Fishermens Bend, Port Melbourne, is an autonomous unit within Hawker de Havilland, using the engineering, production and processing resources of the manufacturing unit.

The Service Centre holds CASA and FAA approvals for the repair and overhaul of Australian- and USA-registered aircraft and is in the process of acquiring JAA approval for European-registered aircraft.

Hawker de Havilland is an Australian company and a subsidiary of The Boeing Company. Internationally competitive, Hawker de Havilland builds commercial and military components for all major airframe manufacturers.

This extension of Hawker de Havilland's repair business complements its strategy of providing thorough life support for the products it manufactures.

Through mergers and acquisition, Boeing has been involved in the Australian aircraft and defence businesses for more than 60 years and has 3,000 employees throughout the country. In the past 10 years, Boeing has invested $A350 million in facilities, plant, equipment and employment and training of Australians, $100 million in technology transfer, $200 million in local research and development and has exported aerostructure components worth some $2 billion.

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