Safran Nacelles gains Part 145 certification for nacelle repair site

Safran Nacelles (Gonfreville-l’Orcher, France) has been granted Part 145 certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), marking the beginning of activities at its nacelle repair site located in Suzhou, China. 

The site can now offer OEMs guaranteed repairs of nacelles and thrust reversers for the fleets of Airbus A330ceo, A320neo aircraft equipped with CFM International’s (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) LEAP-1A engines. A first A320neo nacelle from a Chinese airline is already being inspected.

According to Vincent Caro, Safran Nacelles’ chief executive officer (CEO), the Suzhou-based repair facility “caters for the Asia, Pacific and Oceania markets. Operators in these regions will therefore benefit from geographical proximity of the station, which will reduce both time and cost for transport of materials.”

The repair station covers more than 5,000 square meters (circa 54,000 square feet) and is equipped with the tools necessary to repair both nacelles and line replaceable units (LRU) on the Comac C919 in order to support its upcoming entry into service. Site employees are experts in the repair of composite and metal aerostructures. They will also intervene on wings at operators’ sites.

This new site is said to further complements Safran Nacelle’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) network, which already covers Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and the Americas. It will also be used for the storage of large nacelle components, such as air inlets, thrust reversers and exhaust systems for the entire Asian region.