Air France Industries-KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M, Stand E09), the maintenance, repair and overhaul branch of Air France-KLM, is looking for more partnerships and customers in the Asia Pacific region, seen as an attractive business opportunity thanks to fast traffic growth and the youth of the fleet.

The Air France-KLM division just signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at extending an existing agreement with GMF AeroAsia, Garuda’s maintenance arm. Component support synergy is expected to yield considerable savings. Under the MoU, AFI KLM E&M is also subcontracting Boeing 747 work to GMF. The first heavy maintenance check has been scheduled for this year, on a KLM 747-400.

“We have other partnerships in the cards–such agreements are good because we get closer to our customers and going through the customs becomes easier,” Fabrice Defrance, AFI KLM E&M’s commercial senior v-p, told AIN.

Here at the show, AFI KLM E&M finalized a contract with Korea’s Jeju Air to extend an engine maintenance contract by a further 18 CFM56-7B shop visits. The long-term agreement covers maintenance and repairs for the engines powering Jeju’s Boeing 737-800s, a fleet set to grow to 40 aircraft.

A recent letter of intent from Xiamen Airlines should translate into the European company’s first-ever GEnx engine maintenance contract, Defrance said. AFI KLM E&M already services components on Xiamen’s Boeing 787s.

A deal for A320neo maintenance is expected to be announced soon with an Asian carrier. Defrance would not reveal a name, but AIN understands it will be Indigo.

AFI KLM E&M’s fledgling MRO Lab in Singapore is showcasing an innovation here at the show–an application that synchronizes technician-taken photos with the repair order’s file. Part of a process that checks the part's condition, the app reduces the sync time to seconds.