MAAS Aviation continue to see mounting optimism in the aviation sector as they report a buoyant start to 2022. Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Marston, comments: “The industry is seeing strong post-pandemic growth as travel restrictions ease and we go back to everyday life. With more aircraft returning to the skies, the global MAAS teams have been busy with programs for new and existing customers throughout the first quarter of this year. With the 21/22 winter painting season coming to an end, there is plenty to talk about.”
Statistics from IATA back up Marston’s positive outlook, with the trade association reporting that there has been industry-wide growth in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) of 82.3% year-on-year in January 2022.
MAAS have continued to support established customers Ryanair and EasyJet with their programs, repainting Ryanair’s B737-800 aircraft at their new Kaunas facility this season and EasyJet’s A320-family aircraft from their Maastricht paint bays.
“We have also been pleased to welcome some significant new clients to our paint shops this quarter” adds Tracy Jarman, Sales Manager Europe. “We have painted five A320s for Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling. The final aircraft in this current program for Vueling will complete its makeover at our Maastricht facility later this month and we look forward to continuing this partnership later in the year.”
Sky Alps is a relative newcomer to the scene, founded in 2020, the Italian airline operated its first flights in June 2021. MAAS have aided in their continuing operations with the completion of fresh liveries for two of their Dash-8 Q400 turboprops.
MAAS also partnered with Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, completing two end-of-lease repaints for an A320 and an A321. Corendon Airlines is another new customer, with the MRO recently refinishing two B737-800 aircraft for the Turkish carrier, one of which is a special ‘Hull City’ football club livery.
Condor’s recent rebrand has grabbed the attention of the aviation industry with its bold striped liveries and MAAS were proud to have completed the paint jobs on the first two A321s in this program. Jarman explains, “This project was top secret and had to be kept totally under wraps until the full launch of their new livery in early April, but this strategy paid off with the newly painted fleet making a big impact when revealed. The multi-colored aircraft are designed to emulate the feelings of summer holidays, with the yellow stripes representing the sun, and blue the sea. Condor will be continuing to roll out more of their sensational new look over the summer season.”
Despite the difficulties the pandemic brought to the industry, the general feeling now is of optimism for continued recovery in the sector. MAAS Aviation are pleased to be supporting their airline, lessor, MRO and OEM customers with their ongoing growth and bringing more colors to the sky again.
