29/10/2004

Hawker Pacific moves to enhance engine & component capabilities in three States.

Australasia’s leading aircraft sales and support company, Hawker Pacific, has moved to streamline its Engine and Component Services Group.

The company is concentrating its market-leading engine maintenance operations, including its prestige ‘Blue Seal’ product which enjoys excellent market acceptance, at Jandakot in Western Australia and Bankstown in New South Wales.

The initiative gives the company a strong strategic presence on both the East and West Coasts of Australia for its engine maintenance operations. In addition, the company’s Archerfield facility in Brisbane is being expanded to concentrate and build on its existing specialist component repair and maintenance operations, as well as its growing parts manufacturing activities.

Hawker Pacific Vice President MRO Australia, John King, said the move is part of the company’s broader strategy to enhance the growth of its business units while at the same time improving customer service and support levels across the company.

"We have been involved in an on-going process of developing centres of excellence throughout Australia and the region and this has entailed concentrating our resources where we believe they are most needed and eliminating costly and unproductive duplication and overlap," he said.

"There was an element of duplication in what was being done in our Bankstown and Archerfield facilities and it just makes good sense to allow those centres to play to their strengths".

The Bankstown and Jandakot facilities will concentrate on engine maintenance, including ‘Blue Seal’ production, while Archerfield becomes increasingly dedicated to component repair and parts manufacture.

"This move will also allow us to better address demand for these services through our New Zealand subsidiary and in Asia where ‘Blue Seal’ engines are being embraced as a unique package" Mr King added.

Archerfield will continue to provide support services to the company’s engine overhaul facilities through its considerable machining, process and production capabilities, but will be expanding its capabilities in component manufacture and repair including wheels, brakes, undercarriages, flexible hoses, oil coolers and machining – an area in which there is strong and growing demand.

"This represents an important capability in a growth market and one that it is well worth developing," Mr King said.

Mr King emphasised that Hawker Pacific customers could be confident that there would be no diminution in service levels.

"In fact we will be striving to improve both our service and coverage as part of this realignment," he said.

About Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd
Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd is the market-leader in integrated civil and military aerospace sales and product support in Australasia. The company maintains facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Townsville, Cairns and Auckland as well as in South-East Asia and the Middle East.