Shannon aviation firm secures Qatar Airlines deal

An Irish aviation services company has secured a major contract to paint an award-winning airline’s fleet of aircraft.

Shannon-based Eirtech Aviation will undertake the work across a number of Qatar Airline’s operational bases, including in Shannon, Dublin, Ostrava and its recently established Rome facility.

The seven-year contract involves the exterior repainting of 74 of Qatar Airline’s wide and narrow body aircraft, including 49 Boeing 777s, together with a number of A330s and A320s.

Eirtech Aviation was awarded the contract following the completion of programmes in 2011 and 2013, which included painting the entire fleet of Qatar’s Airbus 340-600s.

The latest programme, which will commence immediately, will be completed using a base coat/clear coat (BC/CC) system. It’s Eirtech’s fourth major announcement in recent months, however, the Qatar Airline’s deal is considered to be one of the company’s biggest contract ‘wins’.

Eirtech Aviation CEO Niall Cunningham said: “The flexibility of our company means that our turnaround times are second to none. Client retention is vital to the global success of our business and it’s a testament to the team that we are back onboard working with such an internationally respected brand as Qatar Airways.

“Spreading the project over a number of different operational bases and over several years ensures that the scale of this contract will not impact on other clients. We have extensive facilities and the continued growth of Eirtech Aviation means we have the capacity to fulfil all client obligations — both existing and new,” Mr Cunningham added.

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said: “Reducing the time that aircraft are out of service for paint or repair is critical to all airlines, and its ability to reduce down time was hugely influential in our decision to continue working with Eirtech Aviation.

Eirtech Aviation operates over 20,000sqm of climate-controlled narrow and wide body hangarage across four locations, using the most modern aircraft painting equipment in the world.

Last month it confirmed plans to commence painting aircraft in the former Alitalia paint hanger at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.

Earlier this year Eirtech announced that it had secured a major contract to undertake maintenance and installation work for US-based Southwest Airlines, as well as Canadian airline WestJet.