South African Airways Technical (SAAT), the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) subsidiary of the South African Airways (SAA) group, is pushing strongly into the African market. This was reported at a media briefing on Tuesday by SAAT head of department: sales and marketing Mike Kenny.

“One of our strategies is to grow into the African market,” he said, pointing out that there were not many MRO facilities on the continent. “We have a huge thrust into the African market. That is working very well for us.”

SAAT is seeking to expand the proportion of its business that it does with third parties – that is, with operators other than SAA (and Mango, the SAA group’s low cost airline). The aim is to increase the value of third party work to more than 50% of the MRO company’s revenues.

To this end, for example, SAAT has obtained the necessary certification to work on the widely used Boeing 777 wide-body airliner, a type not operated by SAA. This has already won the company work, with a contract to carry out “C checks” on 777s operated by an airline in west-central Africa. (A C check is a thorough inspection and checking of individual components and systems in an aircraft.)

SAAT is also in the process of restoring full capability to its jet shop, to be able to provide full MRO services for the CFM International CFM56-7B engine. This is the exclusive engine for the Boeing 737 Next Generation family of narrow-body airlines (the 737-600/-700/-800/-900/-900ER and BBJ types). This process is being carried out with assistance and training from German national airliner Lufthansa.

Just last month, SAAT was declared to be the best Line Maintenance provider in the world at the 2015 Aircraft Technology, Engineering & Maintenance (ATE&M) Awards in London. These are presented by the MRO Network (a specialist media organisation) and the judging is by an international panel of senior MRO executives. (Line maintenance is carried out on operational aircraft, often between flights and while the airliner is parked in front of the terminal.)

SAAT CEO Musa Zwane jokingly compared his company to a garage where cars are serviced. But he had a serious purpose. “I hope people will get to understand the stringent maintenance we do on these aircraft,” he told the media. “We are EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency] certified, FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] certified – those guys don’t allow you to work on these things unless you are stringently qualified. ... We’re passionate about fixing aircraft!”