ATI plotting ways to maintain its progress

ATI is a 50/50 joint venture between Air France KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM).
It provides A320 and 737NG overhaul services from A-checks to D-checks at Casablanca International Mohammed V Airport with top-quality EASA Part 145-cerfified services.
It has logged a total of 507 checks for A320 family and B737 NG during the last year, including 12 D checks and more than 35 C checks.
More clients have been pulled on board since the fourth line opened in 2016.
“All this is the outcome of 30 years’ unwavering partnership and the benefits gained from the extensive airline-MRO experience of the two mother airlines on medium-haul fleets,” enthused ATI CEO Tommaso Auriemma.
Now the MRO provider has started working on an extension project for its facility and services.
“The growth of RAM, of the African market and of our clients, means that our present facilities will be saturated by 2019-2020,” explained Auriemma. “The setting-up of a new hangar in Casablanca to increase capacity is being studied.”
ATI clients come from Africa (mostly southern) and Europe (mostly east and south). They include: Air Arabia Morocco, Air Corsica, Aigle Azur, Air Côte d’Ivoire, TAG Angola, and a new client – Congo Airways.
ATI recently completed a C-check on A320s for Congo Airways, including a change in landing gear. The company hopes the airline will become a regular client as it has recently invested in two A320s, a Q400 and a B737-800.
The MRO provider will soon have its facility ready for the A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX – an obvious move as RAM has ordered these models.
Auriemma underlines that AFI KLM E&M was the first in Europe to welcome an A320neo in Toulouse.
ATI has a highly qualified and diversified team of 330 employees, which enables it to provide maintenance of engines, landing gear and aircraft seats. It also offers integrated solutions (cabin modification and painting) to further optimise the “base maintenance aircraft-on-ground (AOG) time” of its clients.
The company also has privileged access to the maintenance services offered by AFI KLM E&M and RAM, from engineering, logistics and AOG services, 24/7 on-wing support, non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections and cabin design, to customised components, engines or nacelles support.
ATI makes the most of its competitive local presence – Casablanca now being a full-blown hub connecting Africa to the rest of the world with 10 daily flights to Paris. It, thus, benefits from an unbroken supply chain, its proximity to RAM and its subsidiaries, especially Snecma Morocco Engine Services (MRO for CFM56 engines), and STTS (specialised in aircraft painting).
Furthermore, ATI is planning to provide a new ‘line maintenance’ service within 12 months throughout Morocco. “It will require lighter facilities and will be available first at Casablanca and will be extended to Rabat, Marrakech, Agadir and other stations in Morocco,” explained the CEO.
Investment in training is also vital. ATI works closely with specialist training institutes the Institut Spécialisé des Métiers de l'Aéronautique et la Logistique Aéroportuaire (ISMALA) and the Groupement des industries marocaines aéronautiques et spatiales (GIMAS).
Unlike many MRO providers, ATI has all the necessary components to fully grow and strengthen its base and workforce; good infrastructure, a critical mass, strong partners and a qualified local workforce.
By 2030, the aviation market will grow exponentially and forecasts show that African MRO spending will increase substantially by 2025.