BAE SYSTEMS IS CONTRACTED BY AVCRAFT FOR AMERICAN SPARES LOGISTICS SUPPORT

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, Inc, based at Herndon, Virginia, has won a major contract from AvCraft Aerospace GmbH for spares storage, distribution and logistics support on the multi-role Dornier 328 and 328JET aircraft in service across North, Central and South America. This agreement will be instituted in three phases and will run for an initial six-year period.

In the first phase, AvCraft will locate some $150 million of aircraft spares at Regional Aircraft,s Herndon facility via two major shipments starting in mid-December. The first spares shipment will be sourced from the stock acquired by AvCraft from Texas-based M7 Aerospace in the USA. The second shipment of spares will be transferred from AvCraft,s own stock from its Oberpfaffenhofen facility in Germany.

The second phase of the agreement runs for six months and has two main components. First, it provides for Regional Aircraft to operate a +pick-pack, shipment service carried out in accordance with orders placed by operators in the Americas via AvCraft,s Global Support Centre in its Oberpfaffenhofen facility. Second, it allows Regional Aircraft and AvCraft to gain a thorough understanding of each other,s respective strengths to make the third phase of the agreement more efficient and effective.

The third phase of the agreement provides for Regional Aircraft to act as the direct customer interface across the Americas on behalf of AvCraft, receiving spares orders and shipping them in response to requirements. Equally importantly, the third phase will also facilitate AvCraft,s utilisation of Regional Aircraft,s knowledge base on parts management and customer-initiated, internet parts ordering programmes.

&We look forward to being of service to AvCraft and in providing a high level of spares support for Dornier 328 and 328JET customers8, said David Speirs, Senior Vice President-American Support for Regional Aircraft. &We hope to build on this initial agreement with AvCraft and future collaborative support possibilities look exciting8, he added.

Ben Bartel, Chief Executive Officer of AvCraft, commented: &Of the critical items necessary for the success of our programme, there is nothing of more importance than improving the support and service on the Dornier 328 to a world-class level. The management, availability and disbursement of spare parts to the fleet is arguably the first or second most important part of the fleet support. Why BAE Systems? There are obvious choices in this business climate for a warehousing function. We chose BAE Systems because we are not interested in only a warehousing relationship, but one that utilises a whole range of other skills that moves us towards our goal of peerless customer service. We believe that together we can offer innovative, cost effective support solutions to AvCraft,s customers.8

This agreement builds upon the excellent reputation that Regional Aircraft enjoys both in North America and in the UK for its spares logistics operations carried out to support around 1,100 of its own aircraft worldwide.

&We see this important agreement as a further element of our growth strategy and a significant leveraging of our core capabilities8, said Alan Fraser, Managing Director of BAE Systems Regional Aircraft. &Already we provide spares logistics support for both Raytheon and Embraer from our Weybridge facility in the UK and from Herndon we also provide complete spares support for ATR in North America.8
Building on this agreement, AvCraft and Regional Aircraft are considering additional collaboration in a number of other support areas.
Currently, there are over 200 Dornier 328 and 328JETS operating around the world with over 40 customers. North America accounts for approximately 50% of the 328 fleet. A major user of the 328JET is Atlantic Coast Airlines, which also is a significant customer of BAE Systems.

AvCraft Aviation, based in Leesburg, Virginia, completed the final purchase of the rights and facilities for the Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprop and 328JET aircraft manufacturing and support facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen from the receivers of the bankrupt Fairchild Dornier GmbH, with the signing of the purchase agreement in December 2002 and the final transfer of the type and production certificates in the third quarter of 2003.