IAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Aviatic MRO UAB for a strategic cooperation in establishing an aircraft maintenance center at the Siauliai Airport, Lithuania. The new site will provide aircraft maintenance and overhaul services, the conversion of B737NG passenger airplanes into cargo configuration, and the training, certification, and licensing of personnel. Aviatic will run the maintenance center and will support the interaction with the Lithuanian regulators, including planning and infrastructure development.

The new center, dubbed Aviatic MRO, is expected to start operation in 2022 in an innovative hangar that will allow the performance of all MRO jobs immediately after opening.

IAI EVP and General Manager of Aviation Group, Yossi Melamed, commented, ?IAI is a long-standing player in the aircraft maintenance category with an excellent reputation accumulated over many years. The new center will create a professional and commercial anchor for aircraft maintenance in Lithuania. It is strategically located near some of the busiest air transport hubs in the world. Signing the collaboration MOU with Aviatic at a time the aviation market is experiencing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic testifies to IAI?s aviation expertise and the strong confidence our worldwide customers have in us.?

Aviatic MRO Board Member, Dmitrij Cheliadin, added: ?We are glad that IAI has trusted the high-quality specialists, strategically convenient location of Siauliai International Airport and prospects of future growth ? the features we offer at Aviatic MRO. This is a big achievement to Lithuania?s sector of aviation and a special acknowledgment of the effort we have already dedicated to this project and can only hope that this partnership will only grow stronger in the near future. In the meantime, we are preparing the needed infrastructure at SQQ.?