Bombardier Appoints South African Express Airways as an Authorized Service Facility

Bombardier Aerospace has appointed South African Express Airways (SA Express) as an Authorized Service Facility (ASF) for CRJ100, CRJ200 and CRJ700 regional jets, as well as Q400 turboprops and other Dash 8/Q-Series turboprops.

This addition to Bombardier’s Authorized Service Facility (ASF) network is the first in Africa and part of Bombardier’s ongoing expansion plan for international support.

Under the ASF agreement, Johannesburg-based SA Express received Bombardier’s endorsement to offer maintenance work to operators of CRJ100, CRJ200 and CRJ700 regional jets and Dash 8-100/200/300, Q100, Q200, Q300 and Q400 turboprop aircraft.

“We are extremely proud of this achievement and I am sincerely grateful for all of the efforts and commitment of the stakeholders involved that have culminated in this accolade,” said Ramon Vahed, General Manager, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering and Fleet Development, SA Express. “Achieving the ASF status will prove to be a significant milestone for the airline and our shareholders and will provide operators in the region with improved access to a sustainable, cost-effective and high-quality local maintenance support service."

South African Express operates a fleet of 15 CRJ200 and CRJ700 regional jets and nine Q400 turboprops.

The airline employs a full-time staff of approximately 300 maintenance technicians performing both light and heavy maintenance work within a 10,000 square-metre (107,640 square-foot) maintenance hangar and support infrastructure facilities across their base of operations.

South African Express has repeatedly earned Bombardier's Airline Reliability Performance Award for the Middle East and Africa, winning awards in 2010 and 2012 for the CRJ100 and CRJ200 aircraft, in 2011 for the Q100/200/300 turboprop category and in 2008 for the Q400 turboprop category.

The airline will join a network of 59 ASF and Line Maintenance Facilities (LMF) that serves operators of Bombardier business and commercial aircraft spanning across more than 25 countries worldwide. These facilities are supported by nine Bombardier-owned service centres in North America and Europe.

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