Archives Case Studies

The dedicated paint shop support for Airbus is directly tied to the OEM’s A320 family programmes in Europe and the United States. In 2021, the Company also qualified to provide exterior finishing services on the newly established A220 programme in the United States.

Our timeline with Airbus began in 2011 at our Maastricht Aachen Airport location in Maastricht. Then in 2012 we opened a single-aisle paint shop dedicated to Airbus at Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport in Germany, followed by a second in 2016, and a third in 2018.

In 2016 we also opened a single-aisle paint shop dedicated to Airbus at Brookley Field in Mobile, Alabama, United States and in 2021 we established two additional single-aisle painting halls exclusively for Airbus at the facility.

Livery diversity is a hallmark of the various Airbus programmes we undertake in Europe and the United States. We have applied liveries for American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Breeze Airways, Spirit Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, EasyJet, Lufthansa, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, IndiGo, Vueling, Wizz Air, Aeroflot, Air Canada, and many more.

All our dedicated Airbus facilities are AS9100 and ISO 14001 certified and we apply a variety of paint systems, including those manufactured by AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings, PPG Aerospace, and Mankiewicz. We also install the ADHETEC ADHECAL decorative adhesive product on their aircraft. (As shown VTP and aft fuselage for the Frontier Airlines fleet.)

Air Lease Corporation, the US-based aircraft leasing company has a fleet of 300+ aircraft and is a leading global aircraft lessor. ALC is confident that MAAS Aviation will deliver the highest quality and consistent TAT and this is the basis of a trusted relationship that has been established for more than twenty-five years. Recently, MAAS completed an Embraer 175 and a A320NEO in Vistara livery for ALC at our Maastricht facility where Part 145 services were supplied by Lufthansa Technik. However, the majority of aircraft painting programmes for ALC are co-ordinated with our MRO partners, Fokker Technics at Woensdrecht.

The most critical factor for leasing companies is the TAT for each base maintenance check and subsequent painting project. This must be met to enable the lessor to deliver the aircraft to its new operator in accordance with their lease terms. The new operator is normally on-site to accept the transitioning asset in their brand livery so strict procedures guided by a focus on teamwork and partnership are essential.

MAAS’ technologically and environmentally advanced facilities are a natural complement to base maintenance MROs seeking to offer outstanding aircraft asset redeliveries.

MAAS Aviation’s ultra-modern facility in Kaunas is a perfect example. The 40% increase in MAAS Aviation’s European MRO capacity that has been delivered by the new paint shop enables the Company to service more airlines and lessors particularly during peak seasons.

The new twin-bay narrow body paint shop is capable of accommodating up to two A321 sized aircraft simultaneously and is the first of its kind in Lithuania. Situated adjacent to FL Technics’ MRO facilities at the airport, it enables customers to combine base maintenance, painting and parking/storage in one place which makes the location an attractive proposition for airlines and leasing companies. It minimises aircraft ground time which offers economic value and less complexity for operators and lessors.

“Integrations with trusted partners, such as MAAS Aviation, to deliver complex MRO (base maintenance) services, covering nose-to-tail aircraft delivery, painting and remarketing projects is a key focus for us from 2021 onwards.”
Saulius Bajarunas, COO – FL Technics.

VVIP operator of ACJ319s (Airbus Corporate Jets), K5 Aviation approached MAAS Aviation to paint an initial aircraft at the Maastricht paint shop in The Netherlands.

MAAS’ relationship with K5 began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought considerable logistics challenges for aircraft/flight crew movements, and the supply of materials. The MAAS team helped the customer overcome these difficulties to ensure the deadlines could be achieved.

The expectations of VVIP aircraft operators like K5 are extremely high and MAAS’ understanding of the demanding project received high praise for quality, flexibility and particularly customer service.

The smooth painting programme for the first ACJ319 was quickly followed by two further aircraft from K5.

“It is one of the cleanest, well-appointed paint facilities I have ever seen, and the paint team have performed to exceptional standards.”

Erik Scheidt – Director K5-Aviation GmbH

A Boeing 737-800 owned by Sojitz Aircraft Leasing BV initially undertook maintenance with FL Technics at their facility in Kaunas. On completion, the aircraft came into the new MAAS paint shop for a full strip and repaint displaying new operator livery for transition to American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo operator, Sun Country Airlines.

MAAS worked closely with the teams from Sojitz, FL Technics and Sun Country on the timing of the project which was implemented during COVID-19 lock down and posed obvious challenges. Mylars (self-adhesive transfers) supplied from the US were used on the project to ensure fleet continuity for complex livery lines. Part 145/CRS was performed by FL Technics in the MAAS hangar.

“MAAS Kaunas are everything an aircraft lessor could want from an aircraft paint facility. Their preparation, execution, paint finish and customer support were excellent. Combined with an on time and on budget project, I would highly recommend them for your future narrowbody aircraft painting requirements.”

Daniel Preedy, Technical Manager – Sojitz Aircraft Leasing B.V.

MAAS Aviation worked closely on the VVIP specification for a Boeing 767-300 comprising a full strip and repaint to refresh the original livery. We worked with GlobalJet and Jet Aviation to ensure the very highest quality VVIP finish on the aircraft and the MAAS team produced a daily progress report, including photographs of each stage, so that this could be relayed to the owner of the aircraft and project team.

This aircraft was completed on a 20-day TAT during a heatwave in the Netherlands where the temperatures were consistently over 30 degrees for the duration of the input. However, the MAAS paint technicians were unimpacted as our state-of-the-art facility is designed to cope effectively with extreme temperatures.

Flexibility and speed exemplified the MAAS difference. With VVIP customers it is often difficult to plan too far ahead and GlobalJet identified a very short window of opportunity. The full paint workscope was completed in time to meet both their strict timeframe and quality expectations.

Certification for Release to Service (CRS) was supported by Jet Aviation.