Czech Republic to be home of aviation centre for CEE region

The largest aviation service centre in Central and Eastern Europe will be established in Ostrava (Moravia-Silesia region). The Czech company CENTRAL EUROPE AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE a.s. (CEAM) will invest approximately EUR 35 million in its construction. The company plans to perform repairs and maintenance of large aircraft at the centre.

12.12.2006

“As soon as CEAM implements its plan, the service centre in Ostrava-Mosnov will be among the most significant high-tech projects in the Czech Republic. The project can benefit from the fact that the aviation industry has such a tremendous history in the Czech Republic.Thanks to this, there are hundreds of top-notch specialists with vast aviation experience on the Czech labour market that are at the moment forced to work in others industrial sectors. And that constitutes a huge competitive advantage for the Czech Republic in comparison to neighbouring countries," says Tomas Hruda, CEO of CzechInvest.

In Mosnov CEAM will offer aviation companies a wide range of services, from heavy maintenance (base maintenance) to aircraft modification. Full operation should be launched in 2008. The prepared hangar will have sufficient space for the Boeing 747, Airbus A340 and MD-11 aircraft.

“There is only a handful of service centres certified for repairs of larger civilian aircraft in the Central European region,” explains Daniel Hurta, member of CEAM’s board of directors. “Aviation companies are currently facing enormous pressure to lower the cost of airline tickets. The effect of this is that they are handing over the maintenance and repairs of their aircraft to other companies outside their own service centres. In addition, the share of low-cost carriers, which exclusively outsource repairs and maintenance of their aircraft, is growing substantially on the Central European aviation market in the area of passenger transport.

CEAM plans to gradually employ 244 people in Mosnov. The majority of these employees will be specialists in aeronautical engineering. The company will spend millions of euros on their education. “We are investing roughly five million euros in training alone," says Daniel Hurta. “We want to collaborate on the project with the Technical University in Ostrava.” CEAM’s sister company is planning to later construct a new training centre at the airport in Mosnov in which it will train new employees and offer training to other firms.